The Jounin Exams
by Cenedarprime
Summary: After training together for 5 years, Naruto and Hinata have returned to Konohagukare to test for the position of jounin. But exactly how much power have these two gained during their training? NaruHina, SakuLee, NejiTen
1. Heroes Return

**_I do not own Naruto or any of its related characters...Kishimoto-sensei has that honor._**

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_**Naruto: The Jounin Exams**_

_Chapter 1: The Heroes Return_

Five years.

Five very long, very quiet years.

Tsunade sighed as she plopped the paperwork she was reading on her desk, really not interested in completing it right now. She stared out the window and as the sun sank beneath the horizon, she felt the memories flooding back…five years….since that day…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"Oi, Tsunade-obaa-chan, what's the deal? I was asleep when your guys barged into my house and dragged me here!" Naruto was annoyed and sleepy as he yelled at the Godaime Hokage._

_Hinata seemed confused as well, but was much more soft-spoken in her inquiry, as per her shy nature. "I-I too am confused, T-Tsunade-sama."_

_The long blonde haired woman sighed and said, "Yes, I know this summon was sudden and I apologize. But this is of great importance and you will want to pay attention to what I have to say." She stood from her desk and looked out at the moon outside. "After the report of your last attempt to bring back Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto, I came to an important realization. Hearing that the last two members of the Uchiha clan had been exterminated was quite a shock…"_

_Naruto's voice became low and serious, "For the last time, I had no choice. Sakura and I would've died if I hadn't fought back. Sasuke was dead set on killing us; I had no choice but to eliminate him. As for Itachi…well… I killed him to keep him from getting the Kyuubi."_

_Hinata glanced at Naruto and instantly looked down again. She didn't like hearing such hurt and pain in his voice, it unsettled her. Naruto had always been such a strong and steady force to her. Hearing him so shaken and sad unnerved her badly._

_Tsunade sighed and smiled at the blonde ball of energy weakly. "You did what you had to Naruto, and this village is in debt to you for doing so. However, as I said before, hearing of Sasuke and Itachi's respective deaths brought a realization to me. Hinata, how long have you been a chuunin?" Hinata blushed and stammered, "One y-year, Hokage-sama."_

_"I passed the exam with Hinata, so one year for me too, obaa-chan."_

_Tsunade nodded and said, "No regular chuunin could have done everything that you two have accomplished. I believe the time has come for you two to prepare for the jounin exams."_

_Naruto and Hinata seemed equally stunned. "However, preparations for such an exam take quite a long time to complete. Therefore, you two shall escort each other on a training mission to be held in several different locations, spanning everywhere from the forests outside this village, to Sunagukare, to the Village Hidden in the Mist." Naruto nodded and seemed to be in thought, Hinata merely blushed slightly at having Naruto sit so close to her._

_Tsunade's trained eyes didn't miss this, and the faintest of smiles graced her lips. "You two shall depart first thing tomorrow morning, and for the next five years, you shall be training together as per your orders until the time comes for the next jounin exams, to be held here in Konohagukare. Go home, prepare, get some sleep, and I'll see both of you here tomorrow morning."_

_Naruto and Hinata were escorted out of the building and they continued walking, Naruto finally breaking the silence between them. "Five years…wow, do you realize that we're going to be alone together for five whole years? That's crazy!" Hinata blushed impressively and stammered, "H-hai Naruto-kun…it is pretty crazy…"_

_"Well, I gotta say Hinata-chan; I don't think I could have a better partner for this. I gotta thank Tsunade-sama for letting me train with such a strong ninja."_

_"Y-you think I-I'm strong?"_

_Naruto blinked in confusion and laughed. "Strong nothing, you could kick anybody's ass in this whole village, including mine! Not only that, but I seem to get along with you really well. I think this is gonna be great, getting to know you better, not to mention seeing more of your technique!"_

_Hinata blushed impressively and fought to keep from fainting. Naruto thought she was strong enough to beat even him? The thought seemed almost impossible to her. They arrived at the Hyuuga manor and Naruto hugged her tightly. Hinata hugged him back, still quite surprised at his sudden affection. "I'll see you soon, Hinata-chan!" And with that, he dashed into the night. Hinata smiled to herself and blushed impressively as she walked back to her house, mentally ingraining the memory of Naruto hugging her into her mind._

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Five years…and tonight, at midnight, Tsunade was still sitting in her office, a small glass of sake in her hand as she looked out to the risen moon. A knock sounded at her door.

"Who is it?"

"It's Shizune, Tsunade-sama. They're here."

"It's about time… send them in."

The door opened and Tsunade couldn't keep her eyes from widening as a tall blonde man entered her office, accompanied by a beautiful indigo haired woman, about three inches shorter than the man.

"Well, well, it's been a while, hasn't it Tsunade-obaa-chan?"

**A/N: GUESS WHO?!?!?!? Agh, I love this chappie! Naruto just walks in all cool and stuff…but what has happened to our two favorite ninja during their five years together? Have they become stronger? And what of their relationship? Did Hinata finally fess up about her feelings to him? These questions and more will be answered in my next chapter, "The Fox's Surprise: Mrs. Naruto Uzumaki?!"**


	2. Surprise

_Chapter 2: The Fox's Surprise: Mrs. Naruto Uzumaki!?_

"Well, well, it's been a while, hasn't it Tsunade-obaa-chan?"

Tsunade fought to keep the shock out of her voice. "Naruto Uzumaki… I must say you have exceeded even my expectations…" That was the understatement of the year folks.

Needless to say, the five years of intensive training had been kind to Naruto. He now stood at about 6' 5", making him a rather tall man. His blonde hair was still spiky as ever, but now fell about his face more as his headband was now tied around the sleeve to his orange trench coat. Under the coat he wore a traditional chuunin uniform with the green Konoha vest and blue shirt and pants. His blue eyes still shone with a rambunctious fire, and Tsunade swore she could see some stubble on his chin. Even in his uniform, Tsunade could tell the training had helped…he was cut, _really_ cut.

Tsunade then noticed his companion and smiled, "And of course, we have you, Hinata Hyuuga. I must say you look even better after all these years." If saying Naruto looked fine was an understatement, then saying that Hinata was pretty was a right out lie. She wasn't pretty at all. _She was drop dead gorgeous_. Hinata's outfit was actually quite similar to Naruto's in that her chuunin uniform was also covered by a long trench coat, except her coat was pale lavender with blue worked in at the end of her sleeves. Her hair had been cut while they were gone, as it once again resembled the style she kept when she was still a 12 year old genin. The two of them together seemed exuded an aura of strength and confidence… heck, if they seemed any closer to each other, Tsunade would've said they were…but no… that wouldn't have happened…_right_?

"It is good to see you again Hinata-sama. I like the threads, by the way. Seems like that's one influence Naruto has had on you that's actually helped…"

"Arigato, Tsunade-sama… but please, there's no need to address me as Hinata-_sama_ anymore."

"You're heir to the most influential clan in Konoha; I'm giving you your due respect."

"Not anymore I'm not, Tsunade-sama." Hinata held up her left hand and Tsunade's jaw dropped. On Hinata's left ring finger shone a small silver band, twinkling in the dull office lights. Naruto held up his left hand and it too bore another silver ring. Tsunade tried to get her brain to function normally, but had a very tough time with it. Hinata continued, "I am no longer Hinata Hyuuga… I am, as of two years ago, Hinata Uzumaki."

Naruto smirked at Tsunade's obvious shock and said, "You look surprised, Hokage-sama. Was this not the time to tell you?" Tsunade finally found her voice and, much to the couple's surprise, shouted, "WELL IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME, NARUTO! For the love of god, I was beginning to think you'd never figure her out!" Hinata blushed and smiled while Naruto cast Tsunade a very irritated glance. Tsunade took a seat once again and said, "Well, it is apparent that you two are finally ready for the jounin exams. Hinata, you may go out and ask Shizune for coffee or whatever you need. Naruto, I need to talk to you for a little while longer, concerning your training."

Hinata bowed and lightly kissed Naruto, walking out of the office to a very awe struck Shizune. Naruto sat across from the Hokage and Tsunade said, "I must say Naruto, you still manage to surprise me after all this time."

"Don't play dumb Tsunade-sama; you knew something was going to happen between me and Hinata when we left to train together. That's why you paired me with her in the first place, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, but I had not expected you two to return as a married couple. Dating, maybe, but not _married_. Which reminds me… how is her father taking this?"

"Hiashi doesn't know. Hinata and I were married in a private ceremony in Sunagukare. And as far as Hiashi is concerned, Hinata does not care about what he thinks about us. You may ask Hinata as to why she feels as such if you wish."

Tsunade nodded and her voice became serious. "Now, onto business…do you have the scroll?" Naruto nodded and produced a small scroll from his coat, placing it on the desk. "I thank you again for giving me this before I left, Tsunade-sama. The jutsu in that scroll were invaluable to our training. And I assure you that nobody but Hinata and I have ever laid a hand or eye on the scroll since you gave it to me."

"Very good Naruto, you may go find your wife and leave. The jounin exams start in one week. That gives you time to rest and reconnect with friends if you wish." Naruto stood and bowed, much to Tsunade's pleasant surprise, and walked out of the office.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"You always were an annoying little girl… it's time I shut your big mouth for good, Sakura." Sasuke grinned evilly as his grip around Sakura's throat tightened. Naruto tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't move. "Sasuke…don't do this… you can't… I won't let you!"_

_Sasuke continued to strangle Sakura as he turned his withering glare to Naruto. "You're in no position to be making threats, baka." He tossed Sakura aside, who promptly passed out upon hitting the ground. Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the hair and forced his blue eyes to look into the blood red of Sasuke's Sharingan eyes._

_"And after I'm done with you two, there will be nothing in my way to stop me from killing Itachi." Much to Sasuke's surprise, Naruto started chuckling. Soon the chuckling rose to almost maniacal laughter. "S-shut up! What's so funny, baka!?"_

_"Sasuke… apparently Orochimaru neglected to keep you up to date on recent events…Itachi is dead, Sasuke."_

_"You… you're lying."_

_"I am not… he tried to take Kyuubi from me by force, so I had to defend myself. The last thing your brother saw was my Rasengan."_

_"YOU'RE LYING!"_

_Sasuke closed his hands about Naruto's neck, squeezing the life out of the hapless shinobi. "You've done it now Naruto… Itachi was mine to kill, MINE! And now you've ruined everything… my revenge… my honor…ALL GONE! I'll kill you for this, and Sakura too…and once I'm done, I'll attack Konoha with Orochimaru… and I think the first person I'll destroy is that little Hyuuga girl that you've taken such a shining to…what's her name…Hinata, that's it."_

_Naruto froze and became rigid in Sasuke's hands. Sasuke's looked over Naruto's form. It was beginning to glow with an all too familiar red chakra… and before he could blink, Naruto's fingers clamped about Sasuke's throat, causing him to release Naruto in an effort to free himself from the Kyuubi vessel's vice grip. Naruto tossed him aside like a doll and fell to his knees, the red chakra darkening in shade and growing steadily._

_"SASUKE, I'LL KILL YOU FOR THAT!!!!"_

_Naruto rushed Sasuke so fast that the Uchiha's fully matured Sharingan could not even follow it. Naruto punched and kicked at every part of Sasuke he could reach, sending the corrupted shinobi through several trees, smashing into a nearby boulder. He pulled out his katana, but Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him and ripped the blade from his hands. As quick as lightning, a ball of red and blue chakra began to swirl in Naruto's right hand._

_"KYUUBI RASENGAN!"_

_Naruto thrust the ball of chakra into Sasuke's gut, causing the Uchiha to scream in pain. The back of the boulder blew out and when Naruto released Sasuke's limp form, it fell with a sickening thud to the ground, blood flowing from the hole now ripped through his stomach._

_His Sharingan faded away and he gave Naruto one last glance, "Why…couldn't I ever… beat you…" And with that Sasuke released his final breath and became still. And as Naruto walked away, one of the tails of his chakra shield brushed across Sasuke's clothes and set the dead man on fire, burning him to ash on his non-existent funeral pyre…_

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he found himself staring at the ceiling…in his bedroom. He slowly sat up and placed his face in his hands. He'd been crying in his sleep again…he always did when that dream came up. He slowly rose, so as not to wake Hinata who was slumbering peacefully next to him. He grabbed a bathrobe and threw it on, walking out onto the balcony into the cool summer night.

He stared up into the moon and sighed. "Sasuke… I didn't want to do it, Sasuke… you left me no choice…"

**_"You really are a sad case, brat."_**

Naruto smirked and chuckled, "Not as much as you, Kyuubi."

**_"Just let it go, Naruto. Dwelling on the past is never a good thing to do, especially in cases like this. You didn't get together with Hinata by dwelling on your past errors."_**

"I know… but that damn dream won't go away, no matter what I do. It's like I know I'm over it… but there's a small part of me that won't."

**_"And this is why I hate humans… you mortals can never just let anything go. You're sad, weak, useless bags of flesh, the lot of you."_**

Suddenly, a feminine, soft voice pervaded Naruto's thoughts. "_Kyuubi, we mortals know more than you give us credit for, and you know it."_

Naruto smirked and Kyuubi growled in annoyance.

**_"Did I mention how I hate this whole psychic link you two have now? Now I have to argue with both of you instead of just one… how troublesome…"_**

****"You're starting to sound like Shikamaru."

"_He's right. And besides, Naruto is my husband now, and he is certainly not dumb or useless. I'm not going to stand by while you try to degrade him like this."_

_**"Human love… eugh, it makes me ill. I'm going back to sleep, baka. Don't wake me up again…"**_

Kyuubi fell silent and Naruto turned around, seeing Hinata smiling warmly from the doorway. She too was in nothing but a bathrobe as she walked out to meet Naruto on the balcony, who had returned his gaze to the moon. She wrapped her arms around his body and pulled herself against his back.

"You had the dream again?"

"Mm-hm."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Naruto-kun…"

Naruto sighed and smiled weakly. "I did what I had to. I fulfilled my shinobi duty to my team mate and to my village. Sasuke had become too great a threat to be kept alive. I did nothing wrong…so why do I still feel like a monster for killing him?" Hinata turned him around and placed her hands on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly, and she softly said, "You and Sasuke were friends…it's always hard when you fall away from such a close bond. But like you said… you did what had to be done. And I'm glad you did… if Sasuke had killed you… I… I don't know what I would've done…"

Naruto cupped her chin in his hand and said, "I know, Hinata-chan… but the point is that I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere, not for anything in the world. And you can always count on me to come back to you after a mission, no matter how tough." Hinata smiled warmly and leaned up to kiss Naruto gently but passionately. "Come back to bed, Naruto-kun, you need your rest."

He nodded and followed her back inside, crawling under the covers and allowing Hinata to snuggle into his arms, her head resting in the crook of his neck. She sang softly and he began to feel a warm, peaceful sleepiness take over his mind. His eyes closed and they once again fell asleep.

**A/N: FLUFF!!! Sorry, had to say it. I love Kyuubi…such a little meanie, but still has a soft spot for Naruto and Hinata**

**Kyuubi: I DO NOT!!!**

**Cenedarprime: Yes you do. Do not defy me, fox.**

**Kyuubi: I KILL YOU GOOD!**

**Cenedarprime: YOU WILL BE SILENT!!!**

**(Kyuubi loses voice and strength suddenly and cowers before author's might)**

**So what do you think? Good, bad, is it so bad that people wanna gather a mob and lynch me? I dunno, but reviews would help! Stay tuned for the next chappie, "Reunion at Ichiraku!"**

**P.S.- I have edited this chapter after several people pointed out a snafu in the location of Naruto and Hinata's wedding. It said the mist village here, but the sand village in chp.3. Well, I fixed it now, it's officially Sunagukare. Now you can stop griping about it! Yay! Lol just kidding**


	3. Reunion at Ichiraku

_Chapter 3: Reunion at Ichiraku_

As the sun filtered into the Uzumaki bedroom that morning, a single ray of light fell upon Naruto's face. He slowly opened his eyes and found that the body that was lying next to him was gone. He stretched and arose with an impressive yawn, until his trained ears picked up a small _thwack_ from the back yard.

**_"It would appear that your angel is killing wood posts…again. I swear, all you two ever do is eat, train, sleep, and train, not to mention the occasional night of…"_**

"Okay, Kyuubi, we don't need details there. But honestly, can you blame us? We were out on a training mission after all. It will take a while to work the schedule we kept out of our systems. And as for our personal lives, you can't blame us for that either. You saw how we were before we finally fessed up to each other."

**_"No kidding, you two had so much sexual tension between you that I felt like I could eat it. Quite amusing times, those were…"_**

"Right, you just loved laughing at me while I stuttered like an idiot around her."

**_"Well duh."_**

Naruto sighed and tuned the demon out, getting dressed in his outfit from yesterday and walking downstairs, and out the door into the back yard. He leaned against the doorframe and smiled, watching his wife beat the ever loving snot out of her imaginary opponent. She gathered up her chakra in her left palm and in one final strike, hit the post full palm, causing it to shatter into splinters.

Naruto chuckled and said, "If you keep breaking posts like this Hinata-chan, then I'm gonna run out of money to buy new ones." Hinata whipped around and smiled, seeing her husband walking out towards her. She was thankful for getting rid of three things while she was training with Naruto: her tendency to blush, her stutter, and her annoying habit of fainting when they touched.

And she was most thankful for it when she finally found out that Naruto loved her just as much, if not more, than she loved him.

The past five years had changed them, this much was clear. Not only training wise, but the two just seemed…happier. As children they were always ridiculed or neglected by others. Neither were very popular. _"Perhaps,"_ Hinata thought, _"that is why we seem to have so much in common. We were neglected by all but each other. Two misfits out to prove the world wrong together… I never thought being a misfit could be so wonderful."_

Naruto wrapped his arms around her and deeply kissed her, despite the fact that she was sweating profusely from her training. "Morning, beautiful. Having fun, I see?" Hinata kissed him back and said, "You bet I am. What are we doing for breakfast?" Naruto smirked and said, "We're going to Ichiraku. It's been five years since I had their ramen, and I'm in withdrawal."

"Hehe, alright then. Ramen it is."

Hinata followed him inside and disappeared upstairs to change. Naruto sat down at his kitchen table and smirked. "Alright Ero-sennin, you can come out of hiding. I know you're in here."

As if by command, one of the dirty plates on the counter disappeared in a poof of smoke, and in its place sat a large man with long white hair, spiky and unruly. He had two red marks beneath his eyes and wore a large smirk. "Well, well, well… I never thought I'd see the day when Naruto, the biggest brat ever to grace the earth, would settle down and marry. I must remember to bring my umbrella in case it starts raining fire, I have a feeling the world will end now."

"Har-har, pervert."

"WILL YOU STOP CALLING ME THAT!?"

Hinata reappeared in her usual black pants and a somewhat baggy sweater, her headband hung loosely about her neck. She saw Jiraiya and got a look at Naruto's face. He had told her about Jiraiya during their mission together… more specifically, what he does when he isn't training… _his research_.

Hinata averted her gaze, not wanting to really see Jiraiya's quite interested look. Naruto saw the look on Jiraiya's face and fought to keep a vein from bursting in his head. "Hinata-chan, I think I left my gloves upstairs, could you get them for me?" Hinata nodded and left quickly, already unnerved slightly by the old hermit.

"You sure know how to pick 'em kid… not bad at all…"

Jiraiya then saw Naruto's withering glare. His eyes went from crystal blue to a blood red, with the pupils now slits. Jiraiya paled to the color of a sheet because he knew that if Naruto's eyes could channel chakra, then he'd be nothing but a pile of ash right now. Naruto grabbed the hermit by the collar and growled, "Don't you ever look at my wife like that again, or I swear I will make you suffer."

Jiraiya chuckled and said, "And how do you intend to do that?" Naruto smiled wickedly and Jiraiya paled even further. The old man let out an almost inaudible squeak and Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it between the hermit's legs, right below his…err… _sensitive area_. "Think of it this way, if you start eyeing my wife like that again, I'll see to it that you become a soprano." Jiraiya laughed nervously and said, "Got it, no ogling the wife…"

And with that, Naruto opened the front door and cheerily said, "Well, then I'll send you off…" He literally threw Jiraiya out the door with surprising strength. The old hermit disappeared amongst the trees and the sound of a body hitting wood was heard, along with a loud "OWWWWIIIIEEEEE!!!!"

Hinata returned with Naruto's gloves and was relieved to find that the old man was gone. "Thank you Naruto-kun… he didn't seem very nice…"

"Hinata-chan, welcome to the hundreds of women who feel exactly as you do."

They laughed and headed out to Ichiraku, where they would finally get a decent breakfast.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"For the love of god, Kiba, must you always eat like such a… dog?"

"Well DUH. I only live with dogs, Shino. Besides, Akamaru and I were starving, weren't we boy?"

"WOOF-WOOF!"

Shino gripped the counter to keep from falling off his seat. Akamaru's barks had become louder and deeper, so much so that when the dog was really excited, he could topple entire pieces of furniture with the sound of it. The fact that Akamaru was not the size of a small bull didn't help matters

In the other corner of the room, Shikamaru sighed and mumbled, "This is so troublesome…that damn dog is keeping me awake…" Ino promptly gave him a withering glare and asked, "What, is our date _boring you, Shikamaru?_"

"Yes."

Ino bopped him over the head with a well placed fist, earning a laugh or two from Kiba. Chouji merely sat by himself, perfectly content to eat the dozens of bowls of ramen that currently were stacked atop his table. And by the window, sat Sakura and, of all people, Rock Lee.

"Sakura-chan, is something wrong? Your youthful vigor seems a little more subdued today." Sakura quickly pulled her eyes from the sky outside to Lee, a slightly lost look on her face. "Wha? Oh… no, it's nothing, Lee-kun." Lee gave her a skeptical smile and said, "Daydreaming again, are we?"

Sakura sighed and said, "It's so stupid… I should be over this… it's been five years now…"

Lee sighed. He had figured this had something to do with Sasuke. Sakura had been a mess when she first returned with Naruto from that mission… neither of them were seen in public for a few days after that. He had come across Hinata going to visit Naruto one day, and decided to do the same for Sakura, fully expecting the pink haired kunoichi to slam the door in his face.

Well, needless to say, she hadn't…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Lee approached the door cautiously, not exactly sure of what to say. He knocked on the door carefully and said, "Sakura-chan? Are you there? It's me, Lee… I was wondering if…" The door creaked slightly and slowly opened. Lee had to fight hard to keep his heart from shattering right there. Sakura stood in the doorway, a tear stained mess of the ball of energy she usually was. He mumbled, "My god Sakura-chan..."_

_"What do you want Lee?"_

_"I was wondering if you were..."_

_"Were alright? Does it look like I'm alright to you!?"_

_"Sakura-chan, I just wanted to..."_

_"To what, help? There's nothing you can do... Sasuke..." She kept unconsciously mumbling Sasuke's name until Lee could take no more. As Sakura made to close the door on him, he took her hand off it and flung it back open. He yelled at her, "SASUKE UCHIHA IS DEAD!"_

_"Lee..."_

_"Sakura-chan, Sasuke abandoned you and this village for power. He never cared for you, or for anyone but himself and his damn revenge! Sakura-chan, you have to stop clinging to a man who never loved you back! I'm trying to help you here, so stop being such a stubborn brat and allow me to help!"_

_Sakura was taken aback; Lee was never so authoritative to anyone before. She merely stared at Lee for a few moments, and then broke down completely. Lee caught her as she fell and brought her back inside, sitting her down on the couch and taking a seat next to her. She latched onto Lee's chuunin vest and sobbed maniacally. Lee was slightly taken aback at first, all he could do was wrap his arms around her, rubbing back gently and let her sob out every last tear._

_When Sakura finally dried out, she looked up at Lee with a weak smile. "Thank you…Lee-kun…" She fell asleep. Lee didn't move from his spot until she woke up the next day…they never looked back…_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Lee took Sakura's hand and gave it a light squeeze. "Sakura-chan, I know it's hard to accept such a loss as Sasuke, but…" Sakura looked at him with a puzzled glance, but shook her head and smiled. "No, it's not that…well, kinda… when Naruto and I came back from that mission, he was pretty disgusted with himself that he had to… well, anyway, I never even got a chance to thank him before he left with Hinata… Kakashi-sensei only told me they were gone the week after they left."

Lee nodded, finally understanding. "I know it's silly, Lee-kun…I just wish I could talk to Naruto just one more time… just so he knows that I'm grateful for what he's done." Lee nodded and cheerfully said, "Do not worry, my blossom! Naruto and Hinata are sure to come back sooner or later, and when they do I know he will be all too happy to see you again!" Sakura smiled warmly and giggled at Lee's normal exuberance.

It always struck Sakura as odd… how she hadn't seen so many good things in Lee when they first met all those years ago… probably because she was obsessed with Sasuke and he was obsessed with her (not to mention beating the hell out of Sasuke). People still thought Lee was on the fast road to becoming another Might Gai, even Sakura. But she had come to love that about him. He may have been a goof, but he was loyal, strong, would do anything to make her happy… a whole lot more than Sasuke ever did, she noted amusedly.

Lee was chewing down another mouth full of ramen when his eyes suddenly darted to the window and he began choking on his food. Sakura was taken too off guard to apply proper procedure, so she just controlled her chakra into her fist and punched Lee's stomach. He spat the noodles back into the bowl and toppled out of his chair.

"Lee-kun, I'm so sorry! Are you alright!?"

"It's okay…owww…but wait, LOOK!" Lee pointed out the window, but Sakura saw nobody. "Lee-kun… I think that's enough ramen, you're starting to see things…" but as if to refute her statement, the door to the ramen shop opened and in walked two shinobi, as indicated by their Konoha headbands.

"Man, it is good to be back, believe it!!!"

All sound in the shop instantly died away. Every single shinobi in the place whipped around to find none other than Naruto and Hinata standing by the door, Naruto smiling broadly with an arm around Hinata. "How's everybody doing? What are you all staring at? Is there something on my face?"

Kiba broke the stunned silence, "DUDE!!! LOOK AT YOU TWO! YOU'RE BACK!!!" Akamaru howled happily and suddenly the two shinobi were bum rushed by their friends, dragging them to and empty table for two, where they surrounded them, hounding for details of their journey, where Naruto had gotten such a styling coat (Ino), what new moves Hinata had learned (Kiba and Shino), and how the fires of their youth had prospered (Lee, duh).

Naruto held up his hands and went, "SHUT UP! Listen, we'll give you answers as soon as you all quiet down. Now, Shino and Kiba, I can assure you that Hinata-chan here has more moves than either of you combined. Lee, I'm gonna forget that question about our "fires of youth" because I'm not sure I want to know what the hell that means. And Ino… I got this coat in Sunagukare. For a bunch of sand people, they have very good taste."

Lee moved out of the way and Naruto's blue eyes instantly met the aquamarine ones of Sakura. He looked to Hinata, who smiled and nodded. Naruto got up from his seat, walked over to Sakura, and embraced his former team mate.

"I missed you baka…"

"I missed you too Sakura…listen, Sakura…about Sasuke…I…"

Sakura interrupted. "Don't worry about it. You did what you had to. I may have been a mess at first…but that was five years ago Naruto. I've grown since then. And now I find my heart belongs to…somebody else…" She gave a quick glance over Naruto's shoulder and he followed her gaze, right over to a blushing Rock Lee, who was scratching the back of his neck bashfully and smiling nervously.

"No way…you… and bushy brow?"

"Yep."

Sakura held up her left hand and on it shone a bright golden ring, matching the ones Lee had over his left hand… Naruto burst into laughter, "WOO-HOO! Oh, this is just too good! Sakura and Lee… that is so awesome!" He trapped Lee in a headlock and ruffled his shining bowl cut hair (yes, it's still a bowl cut XD). Sakura then noticed a small glimmer coming from Hinata's hand as well. As soon as her eyes focused on the small silver band on Hinata's ring finger, her jaw dropped and she let out an ear splitting squeal. Kiba and Akamaru both started howling in pain, Shino flinched, and Lee kept standing as if nothing had happened. He was far too used to Sakura's squeals to be affected anymore.

"Hinata, that ring is beautiful!" Sakura immediately took Hinata's left hand and examined the ring closely. It was very bright; the silver used to make it must have been very expensive. Ino squeezed in to get a look as well, and as if connected psychically, the two kunoichi dropped Hinata's hand and gave Naruto a pair of wide, almost evil smirks. He looked at sakura and Ino, paling slightly and saying, "What?" Ino was the first to squeal this time.

"EEEEEEEE! YOU AND HINATA ARE SO CUTE TOGETHER!!!" It took everyone else a second to register Ino's words, but when they did, a whole new wave of questions and noise erupted. Naruto made to shut them up again, but surprisingly Hinata beat him to it.

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN! YOU'RE GIVING US A MIGRANE!" Naruto fought to contain his laughter and everyone else inched away slightly from Hinata, not wanting to invoke the wrath of a Hyuuga. Hinata realized how loudly she had yelled and immediately blushed to the shade of a tomato, looking down at the table. Naruto cleared his throat and said, "Hinata and I were married two years ago in Sunagukare. You can go and ask Kazekage Gaara himself, he performed the ceremony."

After everyone regained their ability to think coherently, they all congratulated the two on such wonderful news. But as the tide of noise died down, everybody except Kiba and Akamaru left. Kiba took a seat by them and said, "So… I take it you two are back for the exams, right?" Hinata nodded and said, "Tsunade told us that the exams were in less than a week. Naruto and I are just reconnecting with old friends before we need to take the exams."

Kiba smiled broadly and said, "I'm taking the exams too! Akamaru and I have been training non-stop for the past four years to get ready for this. Shino and I have taken on some tough assassins while you two were gone. We're ready to bury the competition! Aren't we boy?" Akamaru barked loudly and happily. "So what about you two? What kind of new techniques have you learned?" Hinata and Naruto glanced at each other. Naruto turned back to Kiba and said, "I would tell you Kiba, I really would. But I think it's best if Hinata and I keep a low profile while we are here. During our travels we met some…err… less than friendly people who might still be after us for revenge over a defeat or something. We're not going to reveal anything until the exams."

Kiba looked slightly disappointed, but nodded nonetheless. "Alright then… hey, I gotta fly, Akamaru needs to answer nature's call… I'll see you two at the exams!" Kiba hopped on Akamaru and the two bounded out the door and into the distance. Naruto and Hinata let out a sigh of relief, finally getting some quiet from their loud friends. "Hey, old man, how about two miso ramen bowls over here! My wife and I are starving!" Hinata giggled and they enjoyed their meal in peace and relative quiet.


	4. Yondaime's Last Wish

_Chapter 4: Tsunade's Plan… Yondaime's Final request_

Tsunade sat at her desk, for once actually attending to her paperwork contently. Seeing Naruto and Hinata returning safely and in one piece was reason enough for her to be relieved. But that fact that they had returned home married…

"Perhaps Yondaime's plan can actually proceed now. I knew something would've happened between the two of them… but _married?_ Even I didn't see that coming…" Just as Tsunade signed off another paper, a gruff male voice chuckled and said, "You were never good at estimating odds, Tsunade. That's why you're such a lousy gambler."

The Godaime Hokage grumbled and said, "Jiraiya, I'm very busy right now. I don't have the time or the motivation to deal with you right now."

"Aww, not even to have a friendly chat with a former team mate, Tsunade? Maybe I was right, this Hokage position really has put a stick up your…"

"What do you want, pervert?"

Jiraiya sighed and finally emerged from the shadows, sitting down across from Tsunade. "I swear, between you and Naruto, I'm gonna have an aneurism one of these days…" Tsunade chuckled and said, "That's an awfully ugly bump on your head Jiraiya. Didn't get caught peeping again, did you?" Jiraiya chuckled and hid his nerves. He wouldn't rather tell Tsunade about his little incident with Naruto earlier that morning. For once he decided that maybe being a peeping tom would hurt someone after all… namely himself when Naruto ripped his limbs off for checking out his wife.

"What's this plan you were talking about anyway?"

Tsunade glanced at him for a moment, and then turned back to her paperwork without a word. "Tsunade, you can't hide this from me. Yondaime was my student after all, and Naruto technically still is."

"No he isn't, Jiraiya. He officially passed him back to Kakashi Hatake when you returned with him when he was 15."

"That's not the point! Anything concerning Naruto and the Fourth also is bound to involve the Kyuubi, and that is a rather big concern of mine."

Tsunade sighed and said, "Jiraiya, as Hokage I'm not allowed to…"

"Tsunade…"

"… Very well. But what I am about to tell you does not leave this room."

"You have my word as a shinobi and friend, Tsunade." The Hokage nodded and pulled out a small scroll from her desk, bearing the seal of the Fourth Hokage. "Alright, when I sent out Naruto on the training mission for the Jounin Exams, I purposefully paired him with Hinata…"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto sat alone atop the Hokage monument, lying on his back and staring at the blue sky above. Seeing all his friends again after so long made him realize just how long he and Hinata were gone. A lot had happened in his absence…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Naruto tried to sleep, but just couldn't seem to be able to zonk out. He tiredly rose from his sleeping bag and noticed something was off. He was alone in the tent; Hinata's sleeping bag was empty._

_He yawned and emerged from the tent, looking all around and not finding Hinata anywhere. He began to grow concerned and decided to search the surrounding forest to try and find her. He dashed through the trees silently; his heightened senses of smell, sight, and hearing pumping as he scanned the dark trees around him._

_Eventually his ears picked up an odd sound… running water, as if through a river, or… a waterfall._

_Naruto quietly crept through the trees and felt his stomach drop out. This scene looked WAY too familiar…_

_There he was, just like so many years ago, staring out at the same waterfall as he did when he was 13, back in the failed Bickochu mission. And as if by some odd twist of fate, his eyes once again went wide as they fell on a silhouette dancing in the water. It had to be her… he knew it was the same girl from seven years ago, it had to be._

_"She's… she's beautiful!" he gasped quietly, watching her dance in the water._

_She seemed to have an ethereal glow about her body, and yet Naruto could not see her face or anything. He chanced peeking out from the rock he hid behind and he felt himself grow oddly warm as she twirled about, moving the water with her hands, seemingly bending it to her will. "This girl… she can't be human, she must be some sort of goddess…" Naruto thought to himself._

_And by a cruel twist of luck, Naruto slipped on the exact same rock and fell in the water, startling the girl greatly. He rose from the water, red in the face from embarrassment. "My bad, my bad! I didn't mean to…scare… you…" She was gone, once again._

_Except this time, Naruto's trained eyes picked up something in the far trees. He saw a flash of indigo hair hide behind a tree, and he took his chance. He leapt from the stream with a chakra pumped lunge. He dove into the trees and cornered the girl as she fled, tackling her to the ground and holding her wrists down. "Alright, you're not getting away this time, lady! Who are you and what are you doing… HINATA-CHAN!?!?!?" Hinata's beet red face stared back up into Naruto's pale one in mingled horror and shock. She stuttered wildly, "N-n-n-n-Naruto-kun!!! H-h-how d-did you…"_

_Naruto looked down at Hinata and blushed profusely. All she had on was a damp t-shirt and her underwear; her pants had been tossed off to the side. She must've been trying to get them on when Naruto found her. Upon registering what he was seeing, he jumped off of her and sat with his back facing to her, trying to hide his fierce red blush that now filled his face._

_"H-Hinata-chan… I didn't know you were the… I can't believe you… oh my god, I am so sorry!!! I didn't mean to peek, Hinata-chan, honest! I just saw you in the water and… oh, DAMN YOU JIRAIYA, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME!!!"_

_Hinata quickly worked into her pants and made to run off, but stopped. She looked back to Naruto, still facing resolutely away from her to avoid embarrassing her any further. Hinata seemed apprehensive, but walked back to him and knelt down behind him. She tenderly placed a hand on his shoulder and made him turn to face her._

_"N-Naruto-kun… I think it's time we talked. We need to… to talk…" Naruto looked into her pale lavender eyes, and nodded slowly._

_They walked back to the camp and Hinata began to explain, doing her best not to stutter like an idiot. "Yes… it was me in the waterfall, both times. When you told K-Kiba about finding a girl in the waterfall s-seven years ago, I knew it was you who had found me. I should've told you then and there, but I was… I was a-afraid. I didn't know what you would think of me."_

_Naruto thought back to that mission, how Hinata had saved them all from that giant hornet summon… and the pieces fell together. "Wait… that dancing in the water… you were training, weren't you! That's why you pulled off that new technique against the bugs on that mission!" Hinata nodded and smiled weakly._

_Naruto shook his head in disbelief. Hinata… small, quiet, shy Hinata… he never would've guessed she was the waterfall girl. He looked to her and found her once again staring at the ground, nervously mashing her fingers together. Hinata had divulged what was probably her deepest secret to him… he had to return the favor by revealing his own._

_"Hinata-chan… there's something I need to tell you too…" Hinata looked up at him and noticed the anxious look on his face. "Remember how the elders talk about the nine-tailed fox? How it nearly destroyed our village and was beaten by the Fourth Hokage?" She nodded and he sighed. "The truth was, the fox wasn't destroyed… instead he was sealed away, inside a small baby boy. The Fourth sacrificed himself in the hopes that the boy could be accepted in the village one day… but he never was… instead the people hated him, they shunned him and treated him like some half-human parasite."_

_Hinata's eyes grew wide and she stammered, "Naruto-kun… it can't be… is… is it true?" Naruto gave her a slightly fearful look, but sighed and nodded. He took off his shirt and began to focus on his chakra. Before Hinata's eyes, a seal appeared on Naruto's stomach, swirling like a whirlpool. "Kyuubi was sealed in a baby boy… that boy was me." Hinata grew pale, almost as pale as the moon above their heads. Naruto saw her horrified look and sighed heavily. "I know… I know… I wouldn't blame you for never wanting to see me again. I think I should probably go; we can train separately if you wish. Goodbye… Hinata-chan…"_

_Naruto got up and began to walk away, leaving Hinata dumbfounded and confused. When she finally registered what he said, she leapt up from the ground and yelled, "NARUTO-KUN, WAIT!" He turned around in time for Hinata to grab him in a tight hug, crying into his shoulder. Naruto was speechless; he didn't know what to do. "H… Hinata-chan, why are you…"_

_"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry! I should've realized that there was a reason for the villagers ignoring you, I should've done something! I should've been there for you back in the academy, you were all alone… I never thought you were a monster Naruto-kun! I still don't!" Naruto stared at her in disbelief as she sobbed hysterically into his shoulder. "You… you don't hate me, Hinata-chan?"_

_"No, I could never hate you! I care too much about you to hate you, Naruto-kun!" Hinata suddenly gasped and pulled back at her own words. Naruto stared at her with wide eyes, the meaning of her words sinking into his mind. Naruto walked back to Hinata, who merely looked up at him quickly, then darted her eyes back to the ground. Naruto looked at her in shock for a moment, and then swept her into tight embrace, holding her as close as possible. "Hinata-chan… thank you…"_

_Hinata finally relaxed and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him just as tightly. He murmured into her hair, "Hinata-chan… I'm about to do something rather odd and unexpected. You're just gonna have to follow me on this, okay?" Hinata nodded, and before she could register a thing, Naruto's lips were pressing against hers…_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Naruto chuckled to himself, getting up to return home from his walk. _"Yes, things really have changed…"_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Tsunade…are you serious!? Did he really…"

"Yes, he did. And if all goes smoothly, then Naruto Uzumaki is on the fast lane to becoming the most powerful shinobi on this entire planet. Jiraiya, you cannot utter a word of this to anyone, especially not Naruto or Hinata, is that clear?"

"Hai, Tsunade-hime. I understand."

Jiraiya disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Tsunade alone once again. She began working on the papers cluttering her desk, muttering to herself about having too much paperwork, and being too old for this kind of job…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: DUN-DUN-DUUUUUNNNNNN!!!! What could Tsunade mean when she says that Naruto is going to be all powerful? What does this have to do with the Fourth Hokage? Why was Naruto paired with Hinata for five years? Why am I asking these questions? Who am I? Where am I? Who are you? WHAT are you?**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter of my little tale: "Test of Mind: The Jounin Exams Begin!"**


	5. Test of Mind: The Exams Begin

_Chapter 5: Test of Mind: The Jounin Exams Begin!!!_

Neji looked around the room, at the few ninja who had qualified to take the first part of the Jounin Exam. Already being a jounin himself, he was chosen as the proctor for the first section. He had been given strict orders from Tsunade to keep his eyes open for any… _unexpected_ visitors. He personally thought that it was pointless… With Sasuke Uchiha dead, Orochimaru's plans were thrown for a loop, and the snake summoner had gone into hiding once again, no doubt waiting for another host.

Sound nin found inside Konoha were instantly killed on sight, as they no doubt would be up to no good, according to Orochimaru's command. ANY ninja foolish enough to try and start a mess in the village, ESPECIALLY during the jounin exams, would find themselves good and dead before they knew what hit them. Neji would see to it personally that no Otogakure shinobi would interfere with _his_ exam. After nearly dying fighting against Kidomaru, Neji had taken a personal dislike to sound ninja… you would too if one of them put half a dozen kunai in your back.

His pale, pupil-less eyes waved along the room, spotting Kiba and Chouji in a corner of the room, Kiba tending to his now monster of a dog, Chouji, fingering a small pouch in his pocket, no doubt another pre-battle snack. Ino, Sakura, and Lee stood on the other side, Lee no doubt raving like a lunatic about some new technique that Gai taught him. Sakura merely sighed and chuckled at his enthusiasm, Ino merely stared at him like he was psychotic. Neji noted the Siblings from Sunagakure had returned, Gaara sitting by himself in a corner of the room while Kankuro and Temari scoped out the competition. A few other nameless grass chuunin were eyeing Temari's fan and Gaara's gourd quite nervously. A few other scattered chuunin were strewn about the room.

"Eyeing the fresh meat, eh Neji-kun?" Neji smirked as his fellow jounin and wife, Tenten, appeared behind him. Hiashi had not been at all pleased to hear Neji's request to wed Tenten, when he was a prime candidate to marry a main branch member. But thanks to some clever wrangling by Tsunade and many loudly voiced threats by Might Gai, Hiashi begrudgingly removed the curse seal from Neji's forehead and disconnected his link to the clan, allowing him to freely marry Tenten. He remembered how happy Hinata was for him… and how he could tell that she silently wished for the same release from her clan duties.

Neji noticed that Hinata was not among the chuunin gathered, and sighed heavily. He had not seen her in five years, and nobody seemed to know where she had disappeared to. The only one who seemed to know was Tsunade, and she was not willing to tell even Hiashi, forget Neji. "Hinata would've made a fine jounin…"

"Don't worry Neji-kun, maybe she'll still show up. That reminds me… where is Naruto? I haven't seen the guy since… well, since Hinata disappeared." Neji heard this and his eyes snapped up. Could it be…

As if in answer to his thoughts, the doors once again opened and in walked two chuunin, dressed in all too familiar attire. Naruto's orange jumpsuit had been abandoned for a closed orange trench coat. His Konoha headband had finally been tied around his head again, his longer spiky hair standing out in all directions, his trademark smirk on his face. And then Neji's eyes fell on the kunoichi with him… and he felt his heart stop.

There stood Hinata, and Neji was quite impressed to note, his cousin had changed drastically. While she still seemed somewhat reserved and quiet, her outfit matched the overly hyper blonde next to her. Her pale lavender trench coat was closed about her body. The two looked like they had gotten fashion ideas from Gaara, and the surprising thing was, it _worked_.

"H…._Hinata-sama!?!?_"

Hinata's eyes found Neji and a bright smile instantly split her face. She ran to her cousin and openly embraced him like family, the sudden affection catching Neji off guard. Naruto walked up behind her and held out his hand. "It's good to see you again, Neji-san." Neji smiled and shook Naruto's hand warmly.

"It is good to see you too Naruto-san. I was beginning to worry about you. I thought you wouldn't show up." Naruto scratched his nose and chuckled, "No way, man. Hinata and I have been training together for five years for this, I'm not about to miss it for anything." Neji's face showed his stunned realization. That explained their disappearance. He turned back to Hinata and said, "You're father will be pleased to see you again, Hinata-sama…"

"Neji-nee-san, do not address me with such formality. I'm not going back to the clan."

"But Hinata-sama, who will…"

"Hanabi will make a fine heir. I was never meant to be heir to the Hyuugas; such cold elitism never suited me… besides, I now belong to a different house… the house Uzumaki." Neji's already pale face lost all color and Tenten look absolutely dumbstruck. She stammered, "You… you two… _married!?!?_" Hinata nodded and held up her left hand, wedding band glimmering in the artificial room light. Tenten squealed uncharacteristically and hugged Hinata tightly.

Neji was at a loss for words. Not only had his cousin not stuttered once while saying all that, but she looked him square in his eyes, and what he saw astonished him… she was happy. Honestly, truly happy. Neji had to admit, Hinata looked much more formidable and confident now, even if she still was quiet. His look melted into a small smile and he looked at his watch. The time had come.

"Chuunin, listen up! My name is Neji Hyuuga, I am going to be your proctor for the first part of this jounin exam! This is known as the test of mind, and shall begin immediately. Amidst this group is a traitor to Konoha, find him or her and eliminate them within the hour, or you all fail!" Neji and Tenten disappeared in a flash of smoke, leaving behind a room of very bewildered chuunin.

Kiba growled and said, "Okay… who's the rat!? I swear, once I sniff you out I'm going to rip you apart!" Chouji put a hand on Kiba's shoulder to keep him from lunging and calmly said, "Don't be rash Inuzuka… it could be any of us, and if this person is any good at spying, then they will have masked their scent…" Kiba snorted and eased up a bit. Naruto leapt down from his spot and began scanning the crowd. His mind churned and he thought, _"If this person is a traitor to Konoha… then chances are they are a sound ninja. Only Orochimaru would be crazy enough to try and attack us with all the powerful ninja in our village…"_

Naruto thought hard for a while, until a small smile crept across his lips. His eyes met up with Hinata's across the room and they both nodded simultaneously. Naruto stopped in front of the group of grass ninja and looked over all of them with a cautious eye. His gaze stopped on one in particular, a man no older than Naruto. His pale face seemed drawn and his eyes distant. A head of stringy black hair lay matted around his head. He met Naruto's gaze with equal chilled determination.

Naruto smiled, this guy was a tough nut to crack. "What's your name, dude?"

"Sandaro. That's all you need to know."

"Really, Sandaro? Awfully brave statement, I must say… oh, and Sandaro…"

Naruto turned to walk away, and as soon as he reached about five feet away from him, he looked back and Sandaro gasped to see that his eyes had become red, with slits for pupils. "I can see the reflection of your forehead protector in your eyes… the one you hid in your coat… you know, the _Sound Village_ one…" Sandaro growled and lunged at Naruto, only to be stopped by the blonde shinobi quite suddenly.

Before anybody could blink, Naruto had gotten behind Sandaro and had plunged a kunai in the base of his neck. Naruto growled, "Good night, sound nin…" and the dead shinobi plopped on the floor, quite still and bloody. Naruto yanked the kunai from his neck and wiped it on the dead man's vest. The other two grass nin looked frightened beyond all belief. Naruto's eyes met theirs and he smirked.

The grass nin bolted for the door, but before they could leave, Naruto appeared in front of them, his red eyes now shining with anger. One of them instinctively reached for a kunai, but before he could lay a hand on it, he was flying through the air from a neck snapping punch to his head, courtesy of Naruto. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Hinata saw the other grass nin stalk up behind Naruto and disappeared in a flash. She reappeared behind Naruto, blocking the kunai the grass nin was holding with one of her own. She then gathered up her chakra in her palm and struck the nin directly on the heart, the chakra in her hand giving a nasty, lethal pulse as she did. The nin's eyes rolled out of focus, and he too fell to the ground, dead as a nail.

Kiba ran to the scene and checked the vests of all three dead shinobi, finding a sound village headband in each of their vests. He looked to Naruto in awe and said, "Dude…how did you know they were all…"

Hinata joined Naruto and stated quietly, "Sound ninja never travel alone. They always are too afraid to be on a mission alone, as they are cowards who often overestimate their own abilities. They think hiding in the shadows and outnumbering people will help them succeed." Naruto nodded and said, "The only sound ninja who have ever fought alone are Sasuke Uchiha and Orochimaru himself. And we all know what happened to Sasuke…"

Kiba nodded quickly and the rest of the shinobi in the room stared at Naruto and Hinata. Sakura stammered quietly, "He was so focused… he moved so fast… can this really be the same Naruto Uzumaki I used to be teamed with?" The doors opened again and Neji came back in, finding the three grass ninja good and dead on the floor. He nodded and said, "Congratulations, you pass the test of mind. Now, if everyone would follow me, then we can begin the main part of the jounin exams, the qualifying matches."

They followed Neji into the next room and the lights suddenly clicked on, revealing a stadium much like the one the chuunin exams were held in. Naruto noted the huge statue of the Fourth Hokage by the far wall with a reverent gaze, noticing a large video screen above it. "As it was in the chuunin exams, each of you will be fighting once, against a randomly selected opponent. Those who win will move on to the main test fights, those who lose will either go home or to the hospital, and try again next year. Now, for the first match…"

The screen lit up with dozens of names, whirring by in blur. Eventually the names came to a stop, and the room went deathly quiet. Naruto's eyes went wide and Hinata paled slightly. Up on the screen, two names stood in bright yellow lettering…

_Hinata Uzumaki_

_Vs_

_Hanabi Hyuuga_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: Wow… this was an interesting chapter to write… but know that we're past all the psychological testing and stuff, it's time for the reason you all came to these exams… THE FIGHTING, YAY! And whaddya know, Hinata is in the first match, WITH HER SISTER! Maybe now we'll get to see some of Hinata's new tricks! Stay tuned for the next chappie "Battle of the Main Branch: Hinata Buries Her Past!"**


	6. Hinata Buries Her Past

**I do not own Naruto or Hinata or any of the related characters…if I did they would already be together in the series…XD**

_Chapter 6: Battle of The Main Branch: Hinata Buries Her Past!!_

_Hinata Uzumaki_

_Vs_

_Hanabi Hyuuga_

Hinata stood staring at the screen for a long time, until a hand on her shoulder snapped her out of her shocked state. She turned to see Naruto next to her, giving her an encouraging smile. "Hinata-chan, this is your fight… you always said you wanted to put your old clan and life behind you… this is your chance. And remember, no matter what happens, no matter what Hanabi will probably try to tell you out there… you are the better woman and kunoichi in this match."

Hinata smiled and kissed Naruto gently, "Thank you Naruto-kun… I'm ready now." Hinata stepped out onto the platform as Naruto and everyone else ran up the steps to the balcony, where they could see the whole arena. Once again, Naruto felt a case of deja-vu as memories from the first chuunin exams returned. He saw Hinata out in the ring, alone. But then the crowd downstairs parted and onto the platform walked Hanabi Hyuuga. Like Hinata, she was slightly on the smaller side, but seemed much more drawn, and much more cold and aloof.

Naruto chuckled to himself and thought that she was definitely Hiashi's daughter. Her long brown hair reached down to her back, she was clad in what seemed to be a clan fighting uniform, comprised of a black shirt over mesh, with plain black pants. Neither girls were by any means tall, but Naruto noticed that, even with Hanabi's air of pride and superiority, Hinata seemed to tower over her, exuding an aura of calm and tranquility. Gone was the scared little girl Naruto knew back when they were genin. Gone was the shy, stuttering girl who lacked confidence in herself. And most of all, gone was the girl who was alone… shunned by her own flesh and blood.

Hinata looked up at Naruto and he smiled, seeing a whole new energy in her eyes… one of passion, righteous anger towards her opponent, and confidence. At that instant, Naruto knew the outcome of this match…

Hinata was going to win, and she knew it. In fact, she appeared to actually be enjoying herself.

Hanabi looked her older sister in the eye with a frigid glare and chuckled. "Well, well, well… I must say, Hinata, I wasn't expecting to fight you here. I'm surprised you survived five years with that idiot Uzumaki… father will quite interested to know what the _former_ heir of our clan has been up to recently." Fully expecting Hinata to cringe in nervousness, Hanabi chuckled again and looked up to Naruto, casting him an almost evil smirk. However, when she looked back to Hinata, what she found in her older sister's face was no where near the fear she had expected.

Hinata's eyes were alight with determination, anger, and power all mixed together. She smiled lightly and said, "Hanabi, if father was really so interested in what I've been doing, he would have raised me like his daughter instead of neglecting me for your power. Do you think I'm a little girl who is scared of her own flesh and blood? No…not anymore I'm not. And by the way, Naruto-kun is no idiot, he is a wise, and immensely powerful shinobi."

Hanabi smirked and said, "If Naruto was half the shinobi father is…"

Hinata's smile disappeared and her voice rose to full, graceful, yet harsh and scolding tone. "Naruto Uzumaki is ten times the shinobi that father will ever be, _Hanabi-sama!_ As far as I'm concerned, father is no longer a threat, nor are you."

"How dare you… you will pay for insulting father, and me! I'll make you suffer, you worthless, traitorous whore!"

Hanabi dashed from her spot, Byakugan pulsing in her eyes and kunai in hand, slashing out at Hinata as quick as lightning. Hinata caught the blade deftly between two fingers and twisted it from Hanabi's grasp, throwing it aside and striking out with a full palm blow, just barely grazing the top of Hanabi's skull as she ducked and flipped away. Hinata merely smirked as Hanabi roared and charged again, once again being deflected off to the side. "If you think you're so powerful Hinata… THEN EAT THIS! EIGHT TRIGRAMS, SIXTY FOUR PALMS!!!!"

Hinata's eyes flashed and Naruto felt her chakra spike to new levels. He grinned widely and said, "This is where the show gets good… get ready for some fireworks folks!"

Hinata took a different stance as Hanabi charged her and just as she was ten feet away, Hinata quickly shouted, "EIGHT TRIGRAMS, PROTECTION OF THE SIXTY FOUR PALMS!!!!" Hanabi finally reached Hinata and struck out with a blindingly fast barrage of strikes to her older sister's tenketsu points. However, for every strike she let loose, Hinata's hand moved equally fast to block it.

The two sister's arms became blurs, but anyone could tell how the battle was going by their faces. Hanabi's was contorted in rage and frustration, wondering how on earth Hinata was blocking all of her strikes. In the meantime, Hinata merely look at her sister in mild amusement, relishing in Hanabi's confusion and frustration.

The barrage finally ended and Hinata struck with another full palm, sending Hanabi backwards, the younger Hyuuga just barely able to get her balance back. She looked up to her sister and grunted. "Damn it all… how are you doing this!?"

Hinata looked to her sister and merely said, "If you are done, Hanabi-sama, then perhaps it is my turn." And with that, Hinata was across the arena in about five seconds, moving faster than even Hanabi's Byakugan could follow. Hinata laid a few solid palm strikes on her sister before grabbing her arm and bodily throwing her into the air, straight up. As a stunned Hanabi fell Hinata lashed out with a savage Jyuken strike and sent Hanabi flying across the stage.

Lee shouted in disbelief, "I couldn't even follow her movements! She is exponentially faster than before!" Naruto smiled and everyone else seemed to stare in awe. Hanabi quickly leapt up to avoid a low sweeping kick from her sister, only to catch her other foot with her stomach as Hinata spun around and sent her other leg in a high arcing kick.

Hanabi bounced along the arena, finally halting just before the edge. She rose with enormous effort and grunted, and spat at Hinata, "You little… you traitorous whore! Is this how you show respect to your superiors, to your own family no less!"

Hinata's amusement disappeared and instead a boiling anger rose to the surface, and Hinata yelled louder than anyone had ever heard her yell before, "YOU ARE NOT MY FAMILY!!!" Hinata sped next to her sister and hit her upside the head with another palm strike.

"Families raise you! They care for you and protect you! FAMILIES ARE SUPPOSED TO LOVE YOU!!! TWO STRIKES!" She once again struck her sister with a palm strike, followed by two Jyuken strikes, closing off two tenketsu points in Hanabi's chest.

"I was raised by Kurenai-sensei! FOUR STRIKES!"

Hanabi shuffled back as Hinata closed off two more points in her arms.

"I was cared for by Shino-kun and Kiba-kun! EIGHT STRIKES!"

As expected, Hinata closed off four more tenketsu points, making Hanabi stumble back further.

"I was protected by my friends! SIXTEEN STRIKES!!!"

Hinata and Hanabi were off the platform by now and Hanabi was pinned against a column as Hinata closed off eight more tenketsu in her legs and arms.

"I WAS LOVED BY NARUTO UZUMAKI!!! I STILL AM!!! THIRTY-TWO STRIKES!!!"

Hanabi grunted and whimpered as Hinata cut off sixteen more tenketsu. Hanabi's arms and legs were covered in bruises from the tenketsu points in her skin that were forced to close. She looked up at Hinata and paled in fear, seeing an entirely different woman in front of her. Hinata's Byakugan was activated, and her eyes exuded a power and ferocity unseen in her before. They incited a fear in Hanabi that not even Neji or Hiashi could produce.

"THESE PEOPLE, THE ONES WHO LOVE ME, THEY ARE MY FAMILY!!! AND I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO DEGRADE OR DISHONOR THEM ANY MORE, HANABI! SIXTY-FOUR STRIKES!!!!"

Hanabi let out a strangled cry as Hinata finished off her attack by closing off thirty-two more points. Hinata leapt back, and Hanabi fell to her knees, coughing up blood. She looked up at her older sister and growled weakly, "No… can't… lose… to you… I won't… I… won't… I REFUSE TO BOW TO YOU! NOW BE A GOOD GIRL AND DIE!!!" Naruto paled as the scene played out.

It was as if the fight with Neji were replaying in his mind. Hanabi charged at Hinata, death intent shining in her eyes, but this time, something was different. Hinata was not in pain or weakened by the battle. She stood her ground and took the traditional Hyuuga stance as Hanabi roared and pulled out a kunai, lunging at Hinata's head.

Hinata yelled back in triumph as she charged her palms with chakra. Her left hand deflected the kunai away and her right hand went from an open palm to a tightly closed fist, chakra pulsating violently from it. She sank her fist into Hanabi's stomach, knocking back the younger Hyuuga all the way off the other side of the arena, where she rolled to a stop by the feet of the Fourth Hokage statue.

She didn't get up again.

A proctor came by and checked Hanabi's pulse, and seeing that she was still alive, announced, "This battle is over! Hinata Uzumaki shall advance to the next round!" Hinata heaved a sigh of relief and returned to a regular stance, a smile gracing her fair face. Naruto leapt down from the balcony and whooped like a maniac, "THAT'S MY WIFE, PEOPLE! HINATA-CHAN, YOU DID IT!!! YOU COMPLETELY OWNED HER!!!" Naruto swept his wife into a crushing hug, followed by a strong, fiery kiss.

Everyone cheered from the balcony as Naruto released his wife, who looked at him with a dreamy-eyed, if not slightly dazed look. She looked back to Hanabi and thought, _"My past is over… it was dead and buried long ago. This is my life now… he is my life now."_

Neji walked out and announced, "The next match is about to begin!" The screen once again lit up with rapidly flying names, until it once again rested on two fighters…

_Rock Lee_

_Vs_

_Sabaku no Gaara_

**A/N: I'm sorry, I believe the word here is… OWNED!!!! There you go Hinata fans, Hanabi was a little witch and got her butt kicked for it. wOOt for Hinata! Two chapters in one day...wow, I gotta take a break now." Stay tuned for my next chappie "Fist vs Sand: Rematch of the Century!" And remember, for every review I get Orochimaru gets a kick in the 'nads!!!! XD**


	7. Fist Vs Sand: Rematch

_Chapter 7: Fist .vs. Sand: The Rematch of the Century!!!_

_Rock Lee_

_VS_

_Sabaku no Gaara_

This time it was Lee's turn to be shocked. Naruto bellowed out, "What gives!? Gaara's already a jounin! Hell, he's the bloody kazekage of the Sand Village! Why the hell is he…"

"It would do you good to shut that mouth of yours, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto instantly shut his mouth and turned to find Gaara standing behind him, the faintest of smirks on his face. "Your voice is quite piercing, Naruto. I'd appreciate it if you'd kindly shut up while I fight my match. I wouldn't want myself, _or my opponent_, to be distracted by your endless babble." Naruto made to snap back but Gaara leapt from the balcony to the stage. Lee gave an excited shout and leapt down after him. Sakura was plainly nervous, everyone could see it.

She had been scared beyond all belief after Gaara practically destroyed Lee in the chuunin exams, back when they were twelve. But now, things had changed. Given, Gaara was now a friend of Konoha and a fierce ally in battle, but Lee was also Sakura's husband now. She couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, Lee was not going to come out of this battle in very good shape at all.

Lee took his traditional fighting stance and said, "It is an honor to be able to face you again, Kazekage Gaara. But I must ask you, why are you fighting if you are already past jounin level?" Gaara merely gave a shadow of a smile and said, "If you wish to know my purposes for being here, you're just going to have to beat me, Rock Lee of the Hidden Leaf." Lee took that as an invitation and smiled broadly, his muscles tensing for the coming battle.

"But before we start, I must warn you, I have been training non-stop every single day since we last met. Do not think, for even a second that I am the same Gaara as you met before."

Lee smirked and struck back, "This may be true, but I can only wonder… without the beast Shukaku inside of your body, how much has your strength been preserved, Gaara-sama?" Much to everybody's surprise, Gaara merely smirked and said, "Why don't you come and find out?"

Neji gave the signal and the fight began. Lee made to strike, but froze as he noticed something very odd. Gaara was taking a specific fighting stance. Last time he faced him, Gaara merely stood casually as his sand did the fighting for him. But now, it seemed as if he were taking a page from Sasuke Uchiha's book… his stance resembled Lee's to a great degree. Lee smirked again and said, "This indeed will be a glorious fight! COME!"

Gaara and Lee took off at the same time, Lee just managing to whip out a kunai to deflect a small burst of sand from Gaara's hand. Gaara followed with a low sweeping kick, which Lee leapt over quite gracefully, taking a stance behind Gaara. Before he could move, however, a geyser of sand erupted under his feet, throwing him into the air. Gaara whipped his hand towards Lee and a clawed hand of sand erupted from his gourde, catching Lee in midair and slamming him into the ground.

Gaara called back his attack, but felt his stomach drop when the receding sand revealed that Lee had vanished, all that was left in his place were two sets of weights…

_"Damn, he's already dropped his leg weights!!!!"_

Indeed, Lee had pulled out his first trump card. The taijutsu master flashed in and out of visibility as he pounded Gaara's sand shield with a flurry of fast, powerful kicks and punches. Gaara knew this was bad… it would only be a matter of time before he managed to either break through his sand shield or work his way around it…

BAM!!!

Gaara went flying and rolled just to the edge of the arena. Lee appeared again and took his stance once more, a smirk visible on his face. "It seems your time in office has made you slower, Kazekage-sama." Gaara got up and smirked, "I am nowhere near serious yet, Lee. So bring it on…"

Lee obliged and charged again, disappearing from sight as he moved faster than anyone could follow. That is… everyone except a certain blonde haired shinobi and indigo haired kunoichi up in the balcony. Naruto and Hinata's eyes seemed to bounce back and forth, following Lee's movements with ungodly precision. Sakura didn't feel as if she could look either of them in the eye for fear of getting motion sick.

Lee continued to worm around Gaara's shield, managing to lay a couple hits in the process, but he definitely knew it was harder than last time. _"It would seem Gaara has become quicker with his sand, his shield is blocking more of my attacks than last time… perhaps it is time to pull out my next move."_

Lee appeared right in front of Gaara, who managed to get his sand up in enough time to block Lee's fist. Lee turned on his heel and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Gaara smiled and whipped around, a hand of sand ready to grab Lee when he appeared. But he found nobody there… "UP HERE, GAARA!"

Gaara looked up just as Lee yelled, "KONOHA PILEDRIVER!!!" and brought his fists down on Gaara's head. The red haired sand ninja bounced off the ground, and Lee kicked him away to the other side. Sakura jumped and yelled, "KICK HIS ASS, LEE KUN!!!!" Lee smiled and looked back down, only to find Gaara once again missing. He flipped away, just as Gaara came crashing down in a giant blur of sand. Gaara suddenly appeared behind him and murmured, "This is the end… SAND COFFIN!!!" Lee was trapped in the huge pile of sand that Gaara had summoned, a familiar fear clutching at his stomach. He buckled down and prepared his escape, and both combatants boomed out…

"SAND BURIAL!!!!"

"FIFTH GATE! GATE OF CLOSING, OPEN!!!!!"

Gaara's sand compressed about an inch, but the sudden expulsion of chakra from Lee was too much to handle. The sand tomb exploded and Lee burst forth, landing a bone shattering punch right in Gaara's stomach. Lee then kicked Gaara into the air, and began battering him about mid-air. Lee struck Gaara down towards the ground while tying him to one of his arm bandages.

Gaara felt himself get yanked back up, but this time; he knew what to do…

"HIDDEN LOTUS!!!!"

"SAND EXPLOSION!!!!"

Lee's fist connected with Gaara's body, but fell right through as Gaara exploded into a cloud of sand. The streams of it cut across Lee's arms and face and as Lee landed on the ground, Gaara suddenly reappeared above him, "FIST OF SAND, VULTURE STRIKE!!!" Gaara's hand became encased in an armored glove of sand and he socked Lee right in the face, causing him to plummet to the ground and land with an earth rumbling boom.

Gaara was sure that it was done, there was no way Lee could've kept the chakra gates open after being hit so hard… so imagine his surprise when Lee's voice rang from the cloud of dust that had been kicked up…

"SEVENTH GATE! GATE OF SHOCK, OPEN!!!!"

Gaara had no time to react before Lee sprang back out of the dust, kicking Gaara firmly in the face and sending him barreling into the roof. Sakura shouted, "At this rate, those two idiots will kill each other! LEE-KUN!!!" Lee leapt up to the roof, only to have Gaara crash on top of him, now decked in a full cloak of sand. One punch sent lee back down to the ground, but the now super-charged taijutsu master disappeared just before the hit the earth. Gaara disappeared in another burst of sand.

Nothing happened for a few agonizing seconds. Neither opponent could be seen; and then the first boom rang out loud, shaking the walls. Gaara and Lee clashed in mid-air, their strikes ringing out like cannon fire. Eventually a giant clash rang out right in the center of the room, and both combatants plummeted to the ground. When the dust had cleared, Lee was just barely keeping the gates open, and Gaara's sand cloak was gone, his sand armor cracked and missing large sections. They both dashed one last time and roared as their fists met their target in each others guts. They both once again fell to the ground and Gaara's sand fell limp and motionless, Lee dropping out of his accelerated state.

They both struggled to rise, and managed to get to their feet. They both took one step forward, and then couldn't move anymore. They once again fell in their respective parts, and didn't get up again. Neji's voice boomed out, "THIS MATCH IS OVER, I DECLARE A DRAW!!!!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: Now before anybody kills me for not letting either Gaara or Lee win the match, let me give you my two reasons for doing so…**

**1: It is necessary to the plot in the next chapter that Gaara lost, and from the start I had not planned for Lee to advance to the final round.**

**2: I had originally tried to choose one of them to win…. I just couldn't because I love them both XD**

**But anyway, it is a tie! Stay tuned for the next chappie, "Gaara's Secret: Tsunade's Plan Goes Forward!!!" Remember, for every review I get, Hinata gets a kiss from Naruto! (if that doesn't please you Naruhina fans, I don't know what will)**


	8. Recovery Day

_Chapter 8: Gaara's Secret: Tsunade's Plan Moves Forward_

"THIS MATCH IS OVER! I DECLARE A DRAW!!!"

Gaara's siblings leapt down from the balcony to tend to their fallen comrade, Temari looking especially shaken from Gaara's condition. "Dammit, Gaara… why do you always do this? Do you take pleasure in stressing me out?"

"Hn…"

Kankuro sighed and helped Gaara up to the stretcher that was brought out for him. Naruto leapt down to Lee's battered form and made to talk to the taijutsu master, until a very upset, very annoyed Sakura pushed him out of the way.

"Damn it all, Lee-kun! I told you not to open that damn seventh gate!!! If you keep pushing yourself like this, you're going to end up dead, you idiot!"

Lee merely smiled weakly and gave her the thumbs up, "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan…. I couldn't resist. Gaara was such a strong opponent; I wanted to give it my all…"

Sakura became very quiet, and she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "Damn it… I'm not going to lose you… I already lost one team mate… I'm not about to lose my husband." Lee smiled fondly at her and grasped her hand as two more medics came out with a stretcher for him. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! I'll be back in no time!"

Sakura looked on somewhat helplessly as Lee was carried away. Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Go ahead, go with him. You'll probably do a better job healing him than those amateurs." Sakura nodded and gave him a somewhat teary smile, running out after the medics. Neji came out once more and announced, "We will break for today. Combatants, get some rest, as you'll need it for when we continue tomorrow. DISMISSED!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Gaara lay in his hospital bed, seemingly asleep. However, when his door silently opened up, his eyes snapped open and a smirk played across his face.

"Hokage-sama, I thought I was to receive no visitors until I healed a little more…"

"Yes, well… this will be kept off the record. What happened, Gaara?"

"Hn… what can I say, the green-jump suited idiot was more powerful than I thought…."

Tsunade sighed and said, "Well, that much is obvious. I told you not to underestimate him, Gaara." Gaara merely grunted in response and turned to look at the window. "Well, Hokage-sama, it would appear that this puts a damper on your plan…"

"This changes nothing, Gaara. You are not the only one looking after our little fox friend…"

"But I thought…"

"Naruto Uzumaki is not an idiot, Gaara. You know that better than most people. He eventually would've figured out that the only reason for the kazekage to fight in the jounin exams was because he was sent on reconnaissance."

"Yeah, well, I never would've agreed to it if I had known I'd get my ass handed to me. Who else have you got watching Naruto?"

"Well, apart from you and your team… nobody at the moment. But I have decided to handle this a little more directly. I will be observing the matches from here on in."

"But what of…"

Tsunade put up a hand to silence him. "I know what I'm doing Gaara. This currently is top priority. Monitoring Naruto's new abilities will be crucial to the survival of this village. But for now, rest. You're going to need it if you'll be up to watch the next matches tomorrow."

She left without another word…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sakura sat next to Lee's bed, her hand glowing with green chakra as she labored over his various wounds and such, Lee soundly asleep. Over in the next room, Hanabi Hyuuga sat up in her bed, her various bruises looking a little less angry.

_"I don't get it… it doesn't make sense. She was never, EVER that strong before… why didn't she show such power back when she needed it? She could've saved her position in the clan had she only…?"_

A knock on her door snapped her out of her thoughts. "Who is it?"

"Technically? It's your brother-in-law."

She scowled and cast Naruto a heated glare as he stepped into the room. "What do you want…?"

"Well, I wanted to talk, but I'm not gonna bother if you keep giving me that attitude."

Hanabi scoffed at him and turned to face the window again. "Hanabi-sama, I know you're upset that you lost to Hinata… but in all honesty, it was gonna happen sooner or later."

"And how can you say that? If she was going to surpass me, why didn't she do it five years ago, when it would've counted!? She abandoned the clan and left me with _her _responsibility! That kind of thing isn't easy to get over, and don't think I didn't try!"

"You make it sound as if Hinata's at fault here!"

"It IS her fault!"

Naruto was yelling at her now. "You haven't even bothered to consider Hinata's feelings about this, have you!? Do you think she wanted to abandon the clan!? It has been her goal since childhood to be recognized and respected by her own family! She didn't leave out of spite, or because she wanted to burden you with such a huge responsibility, she did it because she believed she was doing what was best for the clan! _What was best for the clan_, Hanabi!"

Hanabi looked at Naruto in shock. Thinking back, she had never really remembered trying to see it from her sister's point of view. Hinata had never seemed particularly interested in clan affairs… the cold elitist lifestyle of their elders just didn't seem to fit her at all. And yet she had enough sense to realize this and do something about it before it interfered with the clan workings… even if it meant giving up her position as heir. Her father even seemed to realize it before her, and he didn't change for much.

"In any case, Hanabi-sama, stop acting like a spoiled brat and think about it, before you judge your sister any further…" Naruto smirked quietly and left without another word, leaving Hanabi to stew in her confusion…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"This is going to be an interesting tournament from here on in…. the only ones who haven't fought yet are Sakura, Chouji, Ino, Kiba and myself, along with a few of the stragglers…"

_**"Brats, all of them… this will no trouble for you."**_

****"Careful, fuzz ball… last time you underestimated a _brat,_ you were out cold for a week."

**_"How was I supposed to know Hinata could communicate with me!? She never did before the training mission… actually… she hadn't been able to until the first time you two made…"_**

"Naruto-kun?"

Naruto instantly tuned out the demon and turned to face his wife, who joined him up on the balcony. "Are you alright Naruto-kun? You've seemed kinda quiet ever since the fight…"

"I know… it's just, so many people have gone already… what if I end up fighting somebody like Sakura? She's been my teammate for years… I want to win, but I don't want to hurt my friends too badly…"

Hinata smiled lightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning against him. "Naruto-kun… everybody knows what they're getting into by taking this exam. They know injury is likely, our own lives are even at risk during this exam. They wouldn't be happy if you held back or didn't fight because you were afraid of harming them."

**_"The lady has a point. You're a shinobi, damn it. Screw fear and hang your loyalty once you get on that arena floor."_**

****"For once, Kyuubi is right. You know they are your friends, but during this exam, they are rivals. And I know how you hate losing to rivals."

Naruto smiled faintly and kissed Hinata lightly. She always had some moments where she spoke like a woman with wisdom beyond her years. "Thanks Hinata… we better get back to our room, it's getting late." They walked back inside and closed the door behind them, drawing the curtains closed as the sun set over the horizon.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Hai, it is done. The stragglers have been eliminated."

Before the cloaked man, the three man team from The Hidden Mist Village lay dead, quite brutally so. "The plan may proceed then, my apprentice… do not fail me, and do not underestimate the fox brat, lest you wish to join Sasuke-kun six feet below the dirt."

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama…"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Alright everyone, the next match is about to begin! And the fighters will be…"

Everyone watched anxiously as the names spun across the board, finally giving off a beep as it stopped.

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_VS_

_Kiba Inuzuka_

Kiba and Naruto both gave off a whoop of joy and leapt into the ring, quite more enthusiastic than they had been before. Akamaru bounded behind Kiba and barked loudly. "Alright then! I was hoping for a rematch with you! I am not going to fall for your tricks this time, Naruto!"

"You think so, eh? Alright then, bring it on!"

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**A/N: DUN-DUN-DUNNNNNN! What is Orochimaru up to now, and what does it have to do with Naruto? Who will win the rematch? Kiba the dog master or Naruto, the nine-tailed fox vessel? And exactly why is Tsunade so interested in watching Naruto? Stay tuned for my next chapter, "Fang Over Fang: Clash of the Beasts!!!"**


	9. Fang Over Fang

_First off, I would like to apologize for the HUGE FREAKING wait you guys had to take waiting for me to update. I went home for Christmas break, and between writers' block, lack of wireless internet at my house, and Naruto: Gekitou Ninja Taisen 4 (xmas gift), I was pretty much done. But now, without further ado, we continue my Naruto epic "THE JOUNIN EXAMS!!!"_

* * *

_Chapter 9: Fang Over Fang! Clash of The Beasts!_

_Naruto Uzumaki_

_Vs_

_Kiba Inuzuka_

Kiba and Naruto both whooped like maniacs as they leapt down into the ring from the balcony. Akamaru soon bounded down after Kiba, causing a slight rumble as he landed. Kiba leapt up and landed on Akamaru's back, perched like a knight on his noble stallion. Except the stallion was much hairier and barked.

"Alrighty then, Naruto… looks like I get my rematch! And don't think I'll fall for any of your dumb tricks like last time!"

Naruto merely chuckled and said, "You think so? Then bring it, dog boy!"

Neji gave one last glance to the competitors in the ring, then brought his hand down and shouted, "BEGIN!"

Before Naruto could blink, Kiba was up in the air, curled into a tight ball and hurtling at him like a cannon ball. He managed to get his arms up to deflect the brunt of his charge, casting the dog lover off to the side. He brought down his arms only to be tackled away by Akamaru. Sakura yelped and Chouji winced, seeing how hard that bull of a dog had hit Naruto. Ino made to comment to Hinata but bit back her remark, seeing an oddly calm look on her face. In fact, Hinata looked like she was… smiling?

Kiba and Akamaru met back in the middle of the ring, talking to the cloud of dust Naruto had kicked up upon hitting the far wall. "A little slow, are we?"

"Look who's talking, doggie boy."

Kiba whipped around to find Naruto standing atop the statue of the Fourth Hokage. "But, didn't I just…" Kiba looked back, and as the dust cleared, he found a log stuck into the wall, splintered, where Naruto was supposed to be.

"You fell for a simple substitution jutsu? Geez, with all your loud talk you seem to be forgetting the basics. Stop playing around and let's get serious, Kiba!" Kiba smiled and said, "All right, but I warn you, it's your funeral… NINJA ART OF BEAT MIMICRY! FOUR LEGS JUTSU!" Kiba took his familiar stance on all four legs as his nails grew to claw length, and his teeth seemed to become longer and sharper, his voice taking on a rough edge. He leapt atop Akamaru and shouted, "NINJA ART OF BEAST MIMICRY! MAN-BEAST CLONE!" Naruto smiled as the giant dog took the shape of his master, making two identical ninja on the field.

Naruto disappeared from the statue and reappeared on the opposite side of the ring. "So that's how it's going to be, eh Kiba? Alright, let's see how you like this… fight fire with fire, as I always say…"

Kiba made to laugh and snap back, but soon looked on, a mix of shock and confusion entering his face. Naruto got down on all fours, and a low growl began to emanate from his throat. Kiba sensed Naruto's chakra beginning to rise at an alarmingly high rate… and it was changing…

"_This isn't his normal chakra… it's darker… what the hell is going on here!?_"

A fiery orange aura began to surround Naruto, and it began to swallow his whole body in an envelope of energy, also darkening to a deep red color. "His chakra is visible!? This is nuts, I've never seen this much power in anyone before!"

The aura began to take a somewhat definite shape around Naruto, Forming two glowing red ears above his head, and a long tail extending from his rear. Naruto began growling louder, and Kiba's eyes shot to his hands. Naruto's nails had grown just as large as his own, yet seemed even sharper. The whisker marks on his face grew and seemed to become thicker, darker. And then Naruto opened his eyes, freezing Kiba in place.

The crystal blue that once inhabited Naruto's eyes was gone; instead it was replaced by a blood red, with slits for pupils. With the exception of Hinata and Sakura, everyone in the arena gasped. Chouji stammered, "What the… how did… what happened to him!?"

Naruto chuckled at Kiba, and said in a low, growling, un-Naruto like voice, "Alright then, if it's a beast you want to be, then it'll be a beast you'll fight as well. BRING IT ON, DOG BOY!" Kiba shook off his fear and charged as fast as he could. Kiba was fast back when he was a genin, but after being a chuunin for so long his speed had only doubled, if not tripled. His fist lashed out to sock Naruto right in the nose… and he stopped.

He looked on in fear as Naruto's hand gripped his fist in place, about three inches from his blood red eyes. "Is that all? Fine… _my turn…_" Kiba brought up his other hand to defend from Naruto's punch, but it did relatively little as Naruto's fist still sent him over the edge of the arena and into the wall. "AKAMARU, SIC 'EM!"

Kiba swiped the dust away, and found Akamaru rooted to his spot, trembling slightly, and doing nothing more than barking as Naruto stepped towards him. "AKAMARU, SNAP OUT OF IT! AKAMARU!" Kiba leapt away from the wall and landed on top of Akamaru, managing to jar his dog out of his fearful trance. "Let's finish this, Naruto! MAN BEAST ULTIMATE TAIJUTSU!"

Naruto smirked; he knew what was coming…

"FANG OVER FANG!"

Kiba and Akamaru became two swirling bullets of energy, flying at Naruto with incredible speed. Naruto leapt out of the way, and as he flew through the air, the tail of his chakra shield latched onto a nearby column. As Kiba and Akamaru turned around to continue their attack, Naruto held out his hand, forming a blue orb of chakra in his palm. He then held out his other hand and in it formed another orb of chakra, except it took a red color. He kicked off of the column and in an inhuman growl, bellowed, "DOUBLE RASENGAN!"

The blue orb connected with a still spinning Kiba, and the red struck Akamaru. For a long time the two attacks seemed to be evenly matched, the energy from Naruto's hands swirling in the opposite direction than Kiba and Akamaru's attack. Naruto roared like a beast and his hands gave a nasty pulse of chakra, sending Kiba and Akamaru careening back into the arena, an explosion of dust and rubble marking their impact.

Naruto landed on the ground, his tail swirling as he took his stance on two legs once again. As the dust cleared, he sighed as he found Kiba and Akamaru struggling to get back to their feet. Naruto began to walk off, believing the match to be done, until he heard a poof of smoke. He whipped around to find Kiba and Akamaru gone, and by instinct whipped around, finding Kiba and Akamaru's attack unbroken and charging at full speed. Naruto leapt out of the way and sighed again as the Fang over Fang move finally ended.

Kiba panted heavily, once again mimicking his dog. _"I can't believe this… he just nullified one of my best moves… in close combat this guy seems to be almost untouchable… so I'll just have to keep my distance…"_

But as if to answer his thoughts Naruto raised his hand slowly, an almost evil grin plastered on his face. He brought down his hand and the clawed hand of his chakra shield shot out at Kiba, who just barely managed to dodge it by leaping into the air. _"DAMMIT! I'M RUNNING LOW ON CHAKRA!"_

He looked again in time for Naruto to launch the other hand of his chakra shield. The second hand found its mark and held Kiba in an iron grip. Naruto bellowed again as he brought his hand back, yanking Kiba in like a fish on a line. As Kiba flew Naruto clenched his actual fist, and let fly just as the chakra arm brought Kiba in range. His fist sunk into Kiba's gut with a loud bang.

As Kiba stared bug eyed at Naruto, he saw his eyes return to their blue color, and he murmured, "Good fight Kiba… good fight indeed." Kiba sunk to the ground, and right before he passed out, he chuckled and said, "Alright… I'm not an idiot… you win this time…" Neji yelled out, "THIS MATCH IS OVER! NARUTO UZUMAKI WINS!"

Hinata leapt down from the stands and met her husband in the ring. Naruto walked over to Kiba and picked him up, bringing him over to Sakura in the stands. "Sakura, you and Hinata tend to Kiba; he just got a few nasty bruises with that one…" Hinata nodded and Sakura cautiously agreed, looking at Naruto with an odd expression.

Neji gave the balcony one last glance, and then turned to the screen once again. The names began whirring by again, eventually ending on…

_Sakura Haruno_

_Vs_

_Ino Yamanaka_

**

* * *

****A/N: First and foremost, let me apologize to Kiba fans. I did not mean to make him seem weak in this chapter, I am a personal fan of Kiba, I think he owns just as hard as Naruto. That being said, you can't deny that Naruto was completely pwnsome in this chapter XD.**

**But moving on… it looks like yet another rivalry coming at a head! Next time: "Kunoichi Battle: Sakura's New Strength!"**

**For every review, I promise to update faster XD**


	10. Sakura's New Strength

_Chapter 10: Kunoichi Battle: Sakura's New Strength!_

_Sakura Haruno_

_Vs_

_Ino Yamanaka_

And immediate hush fell about the arena, almost as tense and stifling as when Hinata fought her sister in the first match. Sakura looked up from tending to Kiba and saw the names on the board, her expression unreadable. She looked to Hinata, who smiled lightly and said, "Go ahead, I'll finish fixing up Kiba-kun."

Sakura stood up once again and looked down to the arena, already seeing Ino there. She made to leap down, but felt a hand on her shoulder hold her back. She turned to find Naruto grinning widely at her. "Don't look so serious; consider this your tiebreaker from the Chuunin Exams."

Sakura smiled back at him and nodded, leaping down into the arena and facing Ino.

Ino didn't seem to have outwardly changed much during Naruto's absence, he noted. Her hair was cut and up in a bun like when she was a genin, but she retained her two piece purple ninja outfit from her first years as a chuunin. The only thing that seemed to change was that her headband, which she usually never had on her anymore, was tied around her left arm.

"Never would've guessed I'd be facing you again, Sakura."

"Neither did I, Ino…"

Sakura reached back into a pouch on her belt, and pulled out two black gloves, slipping them on her hands with a bit of a flourish. Ino snorted and grinned, "Are those some sort of secret weapon?" Sakura just smiled as she zipped up her pouch again, looking back to Ino. Neji gave the two opponents one more glance, and then yelled out, "BEGIN!!"

Ino took off like a rocket, kunai drawn, and swung at Sakura's knees. Sakura leapt quickly, feet landing on Ino's back. She kicked off again, pushing Ino to the ground as she landed on the other side of the arena. Ino jumped back to her feet and charged again, letting loose a flurry of shuriken. Sakura took out a kunai of her own and wove between the oncoming projectiles, occasionally striking one away with her blade. Almost by instinct, she ducked as Ino appeared behind her, the blonde's roundhouse kick floating above her head.

Ino growled and kept on lashing out with punches and kicks so fast that even Lee might've taken notice had he been there. And yet Sakura deflected and dodged every strike with grace, speed, and calm. "_Dammit, she keeps worming around! Since when could she dodge so well!?_" Ino knew this wasn't going to get her anywhere, so she leapt back, becoming even more confused as to why Sakura didn't follow her; she just stood where Ino had attacked her before.

Sakura could see the apparent confusion on her face. She chuckled to herself a little, if Ino only knew…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_"I cannot hold back, Sakura-chan, fight me seriously now!"_

_"I AM YOU JUMP SUITED TWIT!"_

_Sakura put her hands up in time to fail in blocking Lee's strike. She fell on her back, once again, and looked up at the sky in defeated misery, once again._

_Lee sighed and smiled nonetheless, helping his wife back to her feet. "That was a good round nevertheless; we were going for a good seven minutes there." Sakura snorted and looked away, "Yeah, it would've been half that if you hadn't been holding back…" Lee seemed to stumble on his words for a minute, but smiled sheepishly and admitted, "I see subtlety is not a strong suit of mine…"_

_"How do you do it?"_

_"Do what?"_

_"I don't know… ALL OF IT!"_

_Lee laughed despite his wife's apparent bad mood. "Sakura-chan, I never said this would be easy…"_

_"I know, I know… but it's like I'm not doing something, like there's this little thing that's keeping my feet rooted to the ground almost… you're always so much faster, more flexible, more powerful…" Lee considered his wife for a moment, and thought out his words carefully. He knew what a demon Sakura could be if provoked, and that was the last thing he needed after a hard day's training._

_"Sakura-chan… tell me again, what did Tsunade-sama tell you the most important skill a medic nin needed in battle?"_

_Sakura recited it as if she were a human textbook. "A good medic nin needs to know how to avoid offensive maneuvers to avoid becoming injured and therefore not being able to treat his/her teammates…"_

_"There you go. You've been so focused on trying to hurt me as badly as possible that you've refused to allow yourself to give a little ground. You need to learn to give ground to allow yourself to dodge moves, and strike when it becomes necessary or when the best opportunity arises."_

_Sakura looked at Lee for a long time, and smiled in spite of herself, they kept on walking to their home at the outskirts of the village…_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Sakura stood her ground as Ino began making hand seals. If she knew Ino, it would no doubt be a jutsu that would somehow mess with her mind patterns… suddenly, an idea popped into her head that made her grin with an almost evil giggle…

"NINJA ART, MIND DISTURBANCE JUTSU!"

For a second everyone had thought it connected, that jutsu was faster than the mind transfer move after all. But when Sakura disappeared amidst a cloud of smoke and nothing but a single kunai was left, Ino knew she was in trouble.

"NOT THIS TIME, INO!"

By the time Ino knew she was there, it was too late. Sakura smacked the back of Ino's neck with nothing but two fingers, and still enough power to toss Ino to the other side of the ring. She made to stand up, but every time she tried to move her legs… _her arms moved instead._ Ino began panicking; she had completely lost control of her limbs and how they were supposed to move, until she finally stopped moving, trying to comprehend her situation."Dammit… what the hell did you do to me?!"

"That blow you took did the most damage to your spinal cord… Important body parts disturbance…" Sakura said simply. "Basically, I've temporarily crossed the wires in your brain. Whenever you try to move a limb, its opposite will move instead. For example, you try to move your left leg, and your right arm will move instead."

Sakura walked on up to Ino and pointed a kunai at her throat. "Don't be difficult, you know what you need to do."

Ino scowled at her for a second and said, "Why should I?" Sakura chuckled and said, "Because if you don't, then I'll just knock you out while you're unable to move properly and win anyway. You lost Ino, now save your dignity and do it."

She glared at Sakura for a moment, before a small smile graced her lips. "Not bad Sakura… apparently Tsunade-sama managed to teach you something after all."

She shouted to the arena. "I SURRENDER!"

Neji nodded and yelled, "THIS MATCH IS OVER, THE WINNER IS SAKURA HARUNO!"

**A/N: I know it was short, but I don't wanna give too much of anybody's abilities away. Sakura seems to have taken a few things from Lee and Tsunade, but just how much has she, or anyone, for that matter, learned? And what about Tsunade's plan, now that the preliminaries are almost over, what will she do next? Who knows? Not me. XD Stay tuned for the next episode "The Preliminaries End: Chouji's Breaking Fist!"**


	11. Chouji's Breaking Fist

_Chapter 11: Chouji's Breaking Fist!!!_

"THIS MATCH IS OVER, THE WINNER IS SAKURA HARUNO!!!"

Sakura sighed and smiled down at Ino, who begrudgingly returned the expression, despite her rather quick loss. Naruto leapt on down to help carry Ino up to the balcony while she waited to get control over her limbs again, and as he passed Sakura, he gave her a wide smile and said, "The old pervert was right… you and Tsunade obaa-chan are dangerous."

Sakura smiled to herself and followed Naruto and Ino back up to the balcony as the final two competitors made their way to the arena. Naruto looked around and his face suddenly grew serious, and more than a little concerned. "Hinata-chan… wasn't there a trio of Mist nin here? Where are they?"

Hinata activated her Byakugan and did a quick scan of the building. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun… they're not in the building. Maybe they gave up on the exam." Naruto nodded, but still couldn't stop the little feeling that something was amiss. He was soon distracted from his thoughts though, as Ino started shouting, "KICK THIS GUY'S BUTT CHOUJI!"

Naruto and Hinata both looked down into the arena to find Chouji up against a grass ninja neither of them had remembered seeing before. He wore a mask over his mouth, and his headband looked tattered and tarnished, no doubt from several missions and fights this ninja had seen. His brown hair fell messily about his head. Naruto got the same odd feeling he had about the missing mist ninja, something just didn't feel right about this guy…

"The final match of this Jounin Exam preliminary tournament will now commence. Chouji Akimichi .vs. Ryako Katuya. BEGIN!" The masked one who Naruto assumed was Ryako leapt above Chouji's head and shouted, "SUITON: WATER SHARK MISSLE!!!" Naruto's suspicions proved at least somewhat grounded after all. Chouji leapt out of the way just as the giant shark shaped blast of water impacted the ground. "_A water jutsu!? This guy's wearing a grass headband, how would he know... unless…_"

"This guy's not really a grass nin…" Chouji said to himself, smiling slightly. Making his familiar hand signs, he shouted, "MULTI-SIZE JUTSU! SPIKED HUMAN BOULDER!" Chouji once again became the rolling ball of fat and muscle, and his already wild mane of hair grew around him and hardened into spikes. He barreled toward Ryako, who leapt over him again, and shouted "SUITON: EXPLODING WATER SHOCKWAVE!!!" A massive stream of water erupted from Ryako's mouth and collided with Chouji just as he turned to try and nail the grass nin again. Chouji spun in place, but eventually started rolling through the water attack and almost hit Ryako as he landed. The grass nin barely managed to sidestep and his mask flew off, torn from his face by a single spike of Chouji's hair.

Naruto and the others gasped aloud, Ryako was grinning at Chouji with a mouth full of teeth so sharp, there was no way he could've been human, at least not completely. Neji started in shock; he hadn't seen teeth like those since… _Kisame_. But that wasn't possible; Kisame hadn't shown himself around Konoha since Itachi was killed… and yet this guy had teeth just like his, and his water techniques came with almost equal speed and force. As Ryako and Chouji continued to duke it out, Neji examined the fight closely with his Byakugan, trying to get a fix on Ryako's chakra system…

"Alright then, fat boy… try stopping this! SUTION: GRAND WATERFALL JUTSU!!" A spinning vortex of water began to form around the ninja, aiming straight at Chouji. Chouji put up his arms, when a slight glimmer caught his eye. He saw a single shuriken flowing in the water vortex, and then another, and soon he realized that the entire vortex was filled with water and shuriken. "_Killing intent… this guy doesn't just want to win, he's trying to take me out!_"

"See ya around, fatso…"

The vortex shot at Chouji, who quickly made hand signs and said, "PARTIAL MULTI-SIZE: ARM!" Chouji's arm grew to an immense size and he flung his giant fist at the oncoming vortex. "GIANT'S PUNCH!" The two attacks collided and created a huge explosion of water and shuriken. Everyone had to duck to keep from getting shot full of the flying weapons. Once the explosion was done, Ryako found Chouji on his knees, holding his arm now pierced by at least a dozen or so shuriken.

"Smart move, fatso! Blocking sharp metal objects with your bare hand is always a good idea!" Ryako laughed to himself. Chouji didn't look up; he only smirked, and in a cloud of smoke, vanished. The only thing left behind… was an empty bag of potato chips.

"What the hell…"

"SPIKED HUMAN BULLET SLAM!!!"

Ryako looked up just in time for Chouji to slam him into the ground, spikes ripping through his body and he was crushed underneath the boulder that Chouji had become. Chouji bounced off to the side and changed back to himself, "Don't EVER call me fat."

Neji ran to Ryako with his Byakugan active. He closed his eyes and nodded. There would be no second chance for the grass nin. "RYAKO IS DEAD. THE WINNER IS CHOUJI AKIMICHI!!!" Everyone was dumbstruck, and Chouji looked away from the battle, his face slightly pale. He didn't have a choice, the man was trying to kill him, and so he fought back.

However, his guilt didn't remain for long…

Naruto leapt down from the arena and examined Ryako himself. Upon confirming that he was quite indeed dead, he searched the ninja's vest, until his hands clamped around… a headband. Pulling it out, he found a music note emblazoned on the metal plate of the forehead protector.

"Another sound nin… looks like Orochimaru has been experimenting again…" Naruto growled and threw down the headband at the now dead ninja. Chouji looked confused for a second and asked, "Wait, he was a… how did he get through?"

Naruto remembered the three missing mist ninja…

"The missing trio of mist ninja… Orochimaru must have sent his cronies to take them out and replace them with his own men. This must've been one of them… which means that there are two more spies among us."

Neji shook his head, "I've examined everybody here, there are no more sound nin…" Naruto shook his head, "I know that. But how did this guy get in? He couldn't have been here beforehand, none of us remember seeing him today. He ambushed us for the first time _today_. That probably means that Orochimaru will be sending in his cronies at certain points during the next round. We won't see them until the finals begin…"

Neji nodded and said, "I suppose… but why? Why not just send in men without sound ID and try to infiltrate us from the beginning?" Naruto chuckled and said, "He isn't doing this for that kind of information… this one wasn't meant to actually kill Chouji. He was sent as a test dummy, to gauge the strength of a leaf chuunin."

"So, Orochimaru is…"

"Preparing to strike Konoha again. And we have to be on our guard. Neji, go tell Tsunade about this, see to it that ANBU is on patrol immediately." Neji nodded and shouted, "THE PRELIMINARIES ARE OVER. THE FINALISTS ARE AS FOLLOWS…"

The screen listed the names of those victorious in the fights.

"_Hinata Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Chouji Akimichi_"

"IT IS THESE FOUR WHO WILL BATTLE ONE MONTH FROM NOW. REST AND PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR THAT DAY! THE PRELIMINARIES ARE OVER!!!"

* * *

**A/N: It would appear that old Oro is playing his hand a little earlier than expected. If the two spies were not found, then where are they? **

**Naruto: No matter who it is, if anyone who wears a sound headband gets in my way, I'LL MOW THEM DOWN!**

**Shikamaru: Take it easy, idiot. You've got training to do before the finals.**

**Naruto: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, Hinata-chan, you okay? You look a little pale…**

**Hinata: Oh… I'm f-fine, Naruto-kun. It's time for training.**

**Naruto: "_Hmmm… she usually doesn't stutter anymore… I wonder what's up._"**

**Next time: "Training begins, Hinata's revelation!!!"**

**I apologize for the long update wait. Readjusting to school took longer than expected… not to mention I was playing my brand new NINTENDO WII!!!!**

**Lee: YOSH!!!**

**That's right, Lee. But I promise this story will pick back up again! YO QUIERO REVIEWS!!!**


	12. Hinata's Revelation

_Chapter 12: Training Begins, Hinata's Revelation!!!_

The few remaining shinobi and crew began to disperse for their homes once Ryako's dead body had been disposed of and ANBU was in place around the complex. Naruto and Hinata immediately went to the hospital to check up on their injured friends. Upon arriving at Kiba's door, Naruto suddenly became hesitant.

"Naruto-kun? What's wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, n-nothing…"

He still wouldn't meet Hinata's eyes. "Naruto-kun…"

He sighed and let his head drop. "Look… I know Kiba was your teammate once, and while it was great that we got our rematch, I know that I might've gone… err… a _little_ overboard in my fight with him… I just want to say sorry, I guess…" Hinata smiled and kissed him gently, "It's alright, and you know I won't hold it against you. I'd be more worried about Kiba-kun though… he'll want to know how you did… _all that_."

Naruto sighed and nodded. "I know… that's why I'm going to tell him…"

Hinata looked at him in shock. "Hinata-chan, it's not every day a shinobi comes along that bursts into a blur of flaming red chakra. Kiba is a friend and close ally… I think it's time he knew." Hinata nodded and Naruto felt her grip on his hand tighten ever so slightly. Taking that as a sign to go ahead, Naruto opened the door.

"Oi, I was wondering when you two maniacs were going to visit me!" Kiba practically barked at them, accompanied by Akamaru, who was curled up in the corner. Hinata stroked the massive dog's head, getting a satisfied rumble from his stomach. Naruto went to give the dog attention as well, but he noticed that Akamaru flinched slightly as his hand drew near. After sniffing Naruto's hand for a bit, he decided it was safe and allowed Naruto to pet him. Kiba didn't miss this either and he knew why Akamaru was so cautious…

"I don't know what you did in our fight, baka, but Akamaru was freaked out pretty bad. He never, EVER fails to follow my commands, and yet you had him frozen in place. What the hell kinda jutsu was that?" Naruto gave Hinata a significant glance, and she got up and closed the door. Kiba suddenly wondered if asking was a good idea, seeing the seriousness on Naruto's face, and the slight anxiety on Hinata's. Hinata closed the windows as well, making sure that no one was outside.

"Oi, Hinata… it's not like there are sound nin waiting in the trees. What's with all the hush-hush?" Naruto chuckled grimly at that.

"Don't be so sure, dog boy… Chouji's opponent ended up dying in the fight; he was a sound nin in disguise." Kiba nearly choked on his breath, "How did…"

"I'll fill you in later. Right now, it's about time I told you about those techniques I used." Hinata sat down next to Naruto and looked down. "Kiba, do you remember when we were still genin, how the elders always talked about the nine tailed fox?" Kiba nodded.

"Well, they said that the nine tailed fox was destroyed thanks to the Fourth Yondaime… that… well… that's not really true…"

"Well… if he wasn't destroyed… then what happened?"

Naruto cleared his throat and continued slowly, allowing Kiba time to digest all the facts as they came. "It's true, the fox was stopped… but Yondaime couldn't kill it… so, at the sacrifice of his own life… he used a forbidden sealing method on it… he placed the fox inside a small baby boy."

Kiba might not have been the cleverest of ninja sometimes, but not even he could miss the implication of that…

"You… you mean you… no way… that's … not…"

Naruto slid off his jacket and shirt, focusing chakra into his system. Kiba's eyes widened as a large swirling seal appeared on Naruto's stomach. "That chakra you used… I could tell it was different… and there was so much of it…"

"Kiba, listen, I know you probably think I'm a freak and a cheater for using the fox's chakra against you, but…" Kiba silenced him. "HANG ON A SEC, I'M NOT DONE. So you have the… _Kyuubi_… sealed inside you?"

"Yes."

"Ever since you were a baby?"

"Yes."

Kiba looked at him for a long time, and then turned his gaze to Hinata. "He's… telling the truth, isn't he?" Hinata nodded quickly, still not meeting Kiba's gaze. Kiba was floored, to say the least. He could remember Naruto always being ridiculed back in the academy… hell, he mocked the blonde a lot himself back then… but he never really knew why people didn't like him so much… and now that he did…

"Wow… I feel like an ass now…"

Naruto and Hinata both looked at him, quite confused with his blunt reply.

"Look, Naruto… being a person who endlessly mocked you as a kid, only because others did it… I'm hardly qualified to forgive you for anything. Look, I still think it's frightening that you've had a demon sealed inside you this whole time but… I think that between my mockery and you using that power on me, we're even now."

Naruto was dumbstruck this time.

"Kiba… that…"

He grinned and said, "What? I'm not an entirely unreasonable guy…" He held out his hand to Naruto, who took it warmly. They shook hands quickly, and as Naruto sat down, he made to tell Kiba something. The dog user beat him to it…

"My lips are sealed. Nobody will hear anything from me."

* * *

Naruto and Hinata made it back to their home by nightfall. Quickly heating up cups of ramen, seeing as neither had the energy or drive to cook something tonight, they flopped on the couch, leaning against each other. Naruto sighed and said, "This has been a long day… and we have the finals in a month…"

"Hai, Naruto-kun…"

They ate in silence for a few minutes.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Hm?"

Hinata seemed to argue with herself for a bit, then said, "You know there's a possibility that… that… we may be opponents in the finals…" Naruto merely stood still for a second, before briefly answering, "Yeah, we could." Hinata looked to him strangely.

"Doesn't that… you know… _bother you_?"

Naruto smiled lightly and put down his ramen, taking his wife's from her hands and putting it on the table as well. He pulled Hinata against him and kissed her slowly, only releasing her after she was sure to be completely non-sensical and dazed.

"Hinata-chan, of course it doesn't bother me. We've nearly killed each other more than any of our enemies combined these past five years. You know how much that training tested us." Hinata nodded, still slightly lost as to Naruto's point.

"Hina-chan, my point is that if we are opponents in the finals, then I know it will be a true test of my skills and fortitude as a shinobi. We've been working together for this for a long time now Hinata. So I want you to promise me that if we do fight each other next month, you will not hold back for my sake. I won't be holding back for yours, I know you wouldn't want me to."

"Naruto-kun…"

"Hinata-chan, promise me."

Hinata searched his eyes, and found herself once again relaxing. She smiled upon seeing that familiar fire in his eyes, the one that showed up whenever he was presented with a challenge or mission. She couldn't help but smile and kiss him deeply. "Hai, Naruto-kun… I promise." Naruto smiled and leaned in again, tipping her back onto the couch as he kissed her deeply. Hinata held him tightly, the kiss growing more passionate as time wore on.

Shinobi life expectancy was never long. Naruto and Hinata knew that. It was in part because of that that led them to be so physically intimate so often. And as they both slowed down from their emotional highs that night, they curled into each other and laid in peaceful slumber…

* * *

It was about two weeks since the preliminaries ended. Naruto awoke to find something amiss… Hinata was gone. His ears perked up as he heard a moaning coming from the bathroom near the master bedroom. He poked his head out and walked over to the door. "Oi… Hina-chan? You in there?"

He was answered with another moan and what sounded like… _retching!?_

He practically kicked open the door and burst in, finding Hinata standing up from the toilet, looking slightly pale and dizzy. "Naruto-kun… I…" Had Naruto not caught her she would've done a face plant on the floor right there. He carried her back to the bedroom and laid her down, placing a hand to her forehead. She didn't feel too warm…

About ten minutes later Hinata finally woke up. "Hinata-chan, are you alright? Are you sick?"

"I don't know… I think I was… but I feel a little better now. I must've eaten some funny ramen last night…" Naruto still didn't quite believe her. But, much to his surprise, all things about her seemed normal again. Except…

"Hinata-chan… do you smell something?"

Hinata took a few sniffs. "Umm… no, nothing that isn't usual… why?" Naruto kept sniffing the air, the Kyuubi's heightened senses guiding his nose to the door, then to the bathroom, then back to the bedroom and straight to…Hinata.

"Naruto-kun? What's wrong? Do I smell of puke or something?"

"No… it's different… I can't tell what exactly…"

He heard the Kyuubi growl in his head, "**_Oi, snot, what's going on? What's with all the sniffing?_**" Hinata, who once again was privy to the fox, said, "Naruto-kun says he smells something on me, but he doesn't know what."

"**_Smell her again, brat._**"

So he did.

"**_…_**"

"Well, what is it fuzz ball, do you smell it too?"

"**_Of course I do you twit… quick, tell your woman to open her mind, I need to check something._**"

Naruto regarded the fox skeptically, and Hinata as well, albeit she was more nervous. "**_What am I gonna do to her brat? I don't have my own body. Let me check her._**" Naruto sighed and looked at Hinata. She nodded quickly and the two sat across from each other on the bed, legs crossed. Naruto placed his fingers on her temples, and made to close his eyes when Kyuubi growled again, "**_Not there. On her stomach._**"

Naruto made to ask why, but thought it best to just do it and see what happened. He placed his fingers on Hinata's slim stomach and closed his eyes. Hinata felt a slight warmth seep from his fingers into her pale skin… it felt almost nice… but it was gone as soon as it came. Hinata and Naruto both cringed as the Kyuubi growled loudly.

"**_I knew it. Your smell, your sickness… you smell like you're PREGNANT Hinata. Great, now I'm gonna have to deal with three useless flesh bags instead of two._**"

Naruto and Hinata both paled. The Kyuubi merely said, "**_It had better have my eyes, or we will have issues to discuss, Uzumaki Naruto._**" And with that, he disappeared.

Naruto stammered loudly, "You… you… you're _pregnant!?_"

Hinata stammered as well, "I'm… I'm pregnant…_ I'm pregnant_…"

And with that they both smiled broadly and shouted, "WE'RE HAVING A BABY!!!!"

* * *

**A/N: So come on, who honestly didn't see that coming? You can't tell me at least a couple of you hadn't figured it out lol. But yeah, Hinata's gonna be a mommy, and Naruto's gonna be a daddy. Naruhina fans say it with me now. "Nice."**

**Naruto: I'm gonna be a daddy…. I'M GONNA BE A DADDY!!!!**

**Hinata: I don't believe it… we're going to be parents!!!**

**Kyuubi: _Ugh… humans make me sick… although having a little kit around the house might prove entertaining…_**

**Next time: "Naruto's challenge: Master the Fourth's Techniques!!!!"**

**Everybody who reviews can give me a suggestion for name and gender of the baby. SO REVIEW!!!!!XD**


	13. Naruto's Challenge

_Hallo there everyone. I would like to start off by apologizing for the long friggin' wait for this chapter to come up, as there really was no reason for the wait apart from my own laziness. I would have uploaded this yesterday but the site was being dumb and wouldn't let me. But now it is. I have not forgotten you all who are following this story, and I apologize for being so slow about it. I promise to up the pace from now on._

_Secondly, I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I'll be taking a tally of votes for names and gender of Hinata's baby once I narrow down the field of names. I've seen some great suggestions and I know that I won't be able to make this decision on my own. So I promise to keep updating as long as you keep the reviews up!_

_Thirdly, I do not own Naruto, Hinata, or any of these characters. They all belong to Masashi Kishimoto._

_Chapter 13: Naruto's Challenge: Master the Fourth's Techniques!!!_

"Well, it's official Hinata. You are most definitely pregnant."

Hinata sighed in relief and smiled upon hearing those words coming out of Sakura's mouth. When she had stepped into the hospital that day to get a real test done, she was nervous that Naruto's and Kyuubi's senses of smell might have been tricking them. After all, Hinata did not fancy the idea of having to tell Naruto she wasn't really pregnant after he had gotten so happy thinking she was.

Sakura looked at Hinata strangely for a second, a somewhat far away look in her eye. She couldn't help but smile at Hinata's relieved reaction to the news. "So anyway, where is Naruto? You think he would be here for something like this, right?"

Hinata shook her head. "No, I told him not to come. Because of this I obviously won't be competing in the finals, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let it stop him from doing so. Naruto knows what he has to do to prepare for this, and it's going to take all the training he can manage."

Sakura nodded as Hinata got up from her chair to get her coat. "So tell me Hinata, what are these techniques that would be so difficult for him to master?" Hinata considered her question for a moment, and then responded with an odd smile. "That, my friend, I can't rightly say. You'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

As Naruto finished up writing the final seal on the last tag, he tied it off to a kunai and walked on out to the training field behind the house. Throwing his jacket aside, he shook out his arms and legs, getting himself loosened up for the long day ahead.

"_Mastering Yondaime's techniques is going to be no easy feat. I've already made a lot of progress on the Rasenshuriken, but I still need time to be able to fully master it. And the there's…. THAT technique._"

Naruto considered the kunai holstered in his leg pouch, each tied off with a strange looking tag. His hands formed a familiar seal and he yelled, "SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Four more Naruto copies poofed into existence and each took a fighting stance. "You all ready fellas?"

The Naruto's gave a loud "YOSH!"

"Alright then, we have one month to get this right, LET'S GO!!!"

* * *

"Looks like I win again, Hinata-sama."

Neji's small smile vanished just as Hinata's clone did. Neji felt the point of a kunai against the back of his head, right by the thoracic vertebrae. "Never assume anything, Neji-nii-san." Neji closed his eyes and smiled again. The Byakugan only had one blind spot, and Hinata found it, and quickly at that. It was clear now to him exactly how much she had grown under Naruto's care and guidance. "Excellent work, Hinata-sama. I think we'll call it a day."

Tenten then emerged from the house and smiled upon seeing the two coming back in. "Lunch is ready, Neji-kun! You're welcome to stay if you wish Hinata, there's plenty and Neji usually doesn't eat much anyway." Hinata bowed graciously and said, "Thank you, but I really should be going. Naruto's been training since sunrise today and I think I should make sure he hasn't done anything irreversible to himself. Thank you for the training this morning."

Neji bowed in return and Hinata walked off. Walking back inside, Neji and Tenten at in silence, Neji looking as if he was focused on something completely other than the meal. Tenten didn't miss this, so her inquisitive side took over.

"Something happen in training today? You seem a little spacey." Neji chuckled and put down his chopsticks. "You could say that… I discovered something interesting when fighting Hinata today." Tenten giggled and said, "What, that she's actually a good shinobi and could, if necessary, wipe the floor with your smug genius face?" Neji smirked sarcastically and said, "Even if that were true, that's not the point. When I used my Byakugan on her, I noticed something… odd… about her chakra system."

Tenten looked confused. "What about it?"

Neji sighed and said, "She has two of them."

Tenten looked absolutely lost.

"She has her own chakra system, but another is just barely in existence inside her, growing inside her lower abdomen." Neji gave his wife a significant look, and Tenten's eyes widened as the real meaning of Neji's words sunk in. "Hinata… she… _she's pregnant!?_"

* * *

Naruto faced down the one remaining clone from the dozens he had created that morning alone. His hand opened and a spinning ball of chakra began to form inside it, soon forming a perfect sphere of chakra. "_Now to add the wind chakra…_"

The ball gained another whirling layer to it, almost like small blades of charka whipping around it. The wind chakra soon stretched out until the creation in Naruto's hand resembled a giant blue shuriken, with the spinning ball at its center. Naruto leapt into the air and came down on the clone, yelling out, "FUUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!!!!"

The spinning shuriken pounded into the clone, instantly evaporating it as it continued into the ground. A huge dome of wind popped up where the impact occurred, and as Naruto's attack faded away, a huge crater as tall as Naruto was marked what had occurred there. Naruto looked down at his hand, the number of cuts sustained from using the jutsu slowly healing themselves with the Kyuubi's power. "It's still not ready, the wind still cuts my own hand up when I use it…"

"**_Well of course it does, wind chakra is sharper than any blade of steel, you know that._**"

Naruto chuckled, "What's got you so riled up today?" Kyuubi growled again. "**_Why are you wasting your time training like this, you know that by using my power along with it you could cut your creation time for the shuriken in half, not to mention reduce the damage it does to you._**"

"Because every time I give you a little leeway you always make an attempt to break the seal. You should know very well by now that I don't _need _you like I used to as a kid." Kyuubi chuckled, "**_You say that now, brat, but what about Orochimaru? He's no pushover, how do you know you won't need my strength then?_**"

Naruto said in the most serious tone he could produce. "The Fourth was able to beat you, and you're more powerful than that snake freak. And seeing as I'm now as powerful, if not more so than the Fourth, then Orochimaru will be little threat to me by the time I'm done with this training." Kyuubi growled again and silenced himself as Naruto leapt out of his newly formed crater, surprised to see Hinata standing on the edge of the training field, her face a mix of surprise and joy.

He walked over and kissed her, despite the fact he was sweating like a pig. "So, how did it go? Are we really gonna be parents?" When Hinata nodded Naruto did another victory lap around the field, picking up Hinata and carrying her inside amidst gales of her bright laughter. Upon being set down, she noticed the remaining cuts on Naruto's right hand. "You've been using the shuriken again, haven't you?" Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head and blushing. "Well, it is my own personal jutsu now… besides, the fuzzball does a good job of keeping my hand healed fast enough."

Hinata nodded, but still looked a little worried nonetheless… She remembered what happened the first time she saw that jutsu…

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_Naruto summoned up two clones and held out his hand. "You might wanna stand back, Hinata-chan!" Hinata took cover by the trees as the clones began to use their hands to start turning the chakra gathering in Naruto's hand. The blue wind chakra then took the shape of a giant shuriken, and the clones dissipated once the jutsu was complete. Hinata's eyes widened in awe of this new technique, derived from one only the Fourth himself knew more about._

_"FUUTON: RASENSHURIKEN!!!"_

_Naruto slammed the spinning shuriken into the rock pile, completely decimating it in a dome of razor sharp wind. As the attack ended, Naruto stood in a rather deep crater where the rock pile once laid._

_Hinata gasped in astonishment. "So much power… and yet it was so focused! No technique the Hyuugas have created can manipulate chakra to such a fine degree! I can't believe he…"_

_Hinata's eyes then caught something off. Naruto was on his knees, grasping his right forearm… the arm he carried the shuriken in. Hinata ran to him and covered her mouth to keep the yelp from coming out. Naruto's hand was littered in cuts of various lengths and depths, with one rather nasty one reaching from the pad of his thumb to the center of his palm. He chuckled and winced, "That's the downside…I still don't have quite enough control over the wind yet…. It's no problem, I have medicine and gauze, that should…"_

_Hinata stopped his sentence when she took his hand in her own. Her hands began to glow a soft green as the cuts on his hand began to heal up and disappear. Naruto could see Hinata's face screwed in concentration, she did not want to mess this up. Naruto could tell that medical jutsu did not come as easily to her as they did to Sakura._

_When Hinata withdrew her hands, she sighed and said, "You should be alright. Your hand will be sore, but it should be alright to move a little." Naruto flexed his fingers, and indeed there was a slight tingle of pain with it, but not enough to keep him down. "Thank you… Hinata-chan." Hinata blushed and stuttered out, "N-no problem, Naruto-kun…"_

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Countless times Naruto practiced that jutsu in the five years they were away, and each time Hinata was there to heal his hand. Even after she learned of the Kyuubi, she always took it upon herself to treat his wounds as opposed to letting the demon fox's chakra do it for her. Eventually the cuts started becoming less severe, the healing times shorter. Naruto came into the house that day with only half a dozen or so, and at the rate he was gaining control, who knows where he would've been in a month.

"So, Hinata-chan, what are you going to do?"

Hinata was snapped out of her train of thought by Naruto's voice. "Eh… what?"

"About the Jounin Exams! What are you going to do about those, with you… you know, being _pregnant_ and all?" Hinata sighed and sat down. "It's not that I don't want to take part in the exams anymore, I do. It's just… I have this feeling that if I do, something bad is going to happen to our child… I couldn't bear it if something happened to it…"

Naruto gave her a comforting smile and wrapped an arm about her shoulders, "Don't sweat it Hinata-chan, I'll explain your situation to Granny Tsunade tomorrow, I'm sure she'll understand." Naruto then seemed to remember something and ran to the main hallway by the front door, picking up his bag. Unzipping it, he pulled out a scroll or two from his bag and put them on the kitchen table.

"These scrolls were the ones where I copied down a lot of the Fourth's techniques. There were a bunch of meditation techniques in here, they're supposed to settle a balance in the mind and reduce physical and mental stress, or something like that. I know things are going to be rough as the pregnancy progresses, so I figured you might be able to use these to help you relax if needed."

Hinata smiled and kissed him. "Thank you, something tells me I'll be needing these. After all, if this kid is as hyper as you, then he'll be kicking up a storm and I'll need some relief." Naruto laughed brightly and kissed his wife again. "C'mon, lets go to Ichiraku, my treat, we can start spreading the news to our pals." Hinata nodded and the two took off for the center of town.

* * *

**A/N: Yes, there is a lot of baby fluff here… or maybe I'm just seeing things… meh. Again, I apologize for the long wait, I'm working on the next chapter right now, expect a voting procedure after the next chappie! Next time "The Good News: The Rookie Eight celebrates!"**


	14. The Rookie 8 Celebrate!

_Hey there everyone. Well, this chapter goes up super fast to make up for the huge wait for the last one, I hope it's still good! Please enjoy the next installment of "The Jounin Exams". Thanx to all those who reviewed and continue to review, you guys are the best._

_Disclaimer: I don't own anyone here. We get the point._

_Chapter 14: Good News: The Rookie Eight Celebrates!_

"How many bowls is that now?"

"Hmm? Oh, this? I'd put this at 26."

"Tch, troublesome… this guy's enough to put me off of food for life."

"You keep saying that Shikamaru, and yet you still keep eating. Pardon me if I don't take you seriously."

"Troublesome…"

Chouji snickered at his teammate and delved into what was indeed his 26th bowl of ramen that day. The old man behind the counter literally had dollar signs in his eyes, and Shikamaru got the uneasy feeling that somehow, someway, _he _would be the one to end up paying for Chouji's feast… _again_. Shikamaru sighed and made to comment once again on Chouji's voracious appetite, but another voice beat him to it.

"Geez, you're packing it away today, aren't you pal? I don't think Akamaru has ever eaten this much before." Shikamaru looked up to find Kiba and Shino make their way to a couple vacant stools, Kiba loudly ordering himself a miso ramen, with Akamaru booming with a happy bark in response. Shikamaru chuckled and said aside to Shino, "Geez, you've got dogs in stereo now… how do you deal?"

"Patience. And the occasional aspirin." Shino said this with a creepily straight tone and face. But then again, that's how he said everything, Shikamaru noted. "So what brings you two out here today? I figured you'd be out killing more assassins or something like that…"

Kiba swallowed his ramen loudly and said, "Kurenai-sensei was sick and needed help looking after her son today. I volunteered us, seeing as everyone else seems to have had a chance to look after the kid." Shikamaru nodded, Kurenai and little Abe entering his mind. I had been an odd feeling, when Abe was born. He definitely gained a soft spoken manner from his mother, not to mention her eyes, but everything else, from his profile, his hair, to his smirk, was all…

"Asuma…"

Shikamaru practically whispered this, so it went generally unnoticed. The only one who probably would've noticed was Shino, but not being one to comment on things very often, he once again kept to himself. "Shikamaru!" Shikamaru looked up to find Ino headed their way. "Sorry I'm late! Mom had some issues at the shop today, and I couldn't worm out of helping her." He waved her off and she took the empty seat next to him. Taking one glance at Chouji, she sighed. "Please tell me he's paying for this."

"What are you worried about, _I'm_ the one that usually ends up paying for him."

Ichiraku was definitely lively when Naruto and Hinata arrived, all smiles on their faces. Kiba looked up from wolfing his ramen and called out, "Hey, lovebirds! What's happening?" Naruto and Hinata stood behind the stools as everyone spun around to meet them. Naruto scratched the back of his head, still grinning like an idiot.

"We've got some news everyone. Don't we, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blushed and still managed to give the brightest smile anyone had ever seen on her. Kiba got fed up after the lingering moments of silence and said, "Well, spit it out! What's the big news?" Akamaru barked in unison once again.

Hinata looked to Naruto, who gave her a nod to go ahead. She took a big breath, and with a grin to rival Naruto's, announced,

"Everyone… I'm pregnant. Naruto and I are going to have a baby."

Kiba dropped his chopsticks, as did Chouji. The only sign Shino gave of any sort of reaction to the news was a raised eyebrow and a hidden smile. Akamaru howled happily, accompanied by a painfully loud squeal courtesy of Ino, who immediately leapt from her seat and crushed Hinata in the tightest hug she could muster. "AAAAHHHH! Hinata, that's wonderful! Congratulations! AAAHHH!"

Hinata struggled out a _thank _you, her air supply obviously becoming restricted under Ino's iron grip. Shikamaru got up from his and carefully managed to pry Ino away before Hinata started turning blue. He then turned to Naruto and thumped him on the back. "Way to go idiot, now there's gonna be two idiots like you in this town." Shikamaru's smile destroyed his sarcasm and Naruto shook his hand with a laugh. Kiba and Akamaru were now singing/howling in unison over the good news, with Shino looking dangerously close to giving them the worst case of fleas anyone had ever seen before.

Chouji laughed heartily as only an Akimichi could, "Well, I think this calls for a little celebration! Party at my place tonight, in honor of the Uzumaki's unborn child!"

Shikamaru whistled and said aside to Naruto and Hinata, "I'd take him up on that if I were you two, when the Akimichi clan throws a party, they throw it BIG." Kiba and Akamaru both agreed, once again amidst a gale of loud barks. Shino merely nodded and continued sipping on his glass of water. Just when things seemed to finally be calming down, Naruto heard a voice from across the street.

"NARUTO, YOU OLD DOG! YOUR YOUTH SHINES BRIGHTEST OF ALL ON THIS GLORIOUS DAY OF DAYS!!!" Everybody froze and inched away from Naruto, including Hinata, knowing all to well what was coming. Naruto noticed this and slowly turned around, his worst fears confirmed.

There stood Might Gai in all his brilliant green jump-suited glory, with an equally exuberant and equally green jump-suited Rock Lee next to him. Sakura stood off to the side, looking as if she might burst out in laughter any second. Naruto noticed the look of laughter in her eyes and it all clicked. She told Lee about Hinata being pregnant, who in turn told his old sensei about it. He suddenly found himself wondering how many ribs Sakura would have to heal after Gai and Lee did what he truly feared they were about to do…

Gai and Lee, before anyone blinked, were suddenly both hugging Naruto tightly, Lee crying out praises and congratulations on Naruto and Hinata's wonderful news, and Gai just crying in general. Crying was just Gai's thing. After all, he was in a good mood, had received such wonderful news from two people he had known since they reached up to his hip, and was in his green power suit of youth. How could he not just cry for joy? ( riiiiiiight... )

Naruto could feel his air supply running short, and through some miracle of god, he managed to pull himself out of the vice grip the two taijutsu masters had on him. "Thanks guys… oh, and Sakura? Yeah, next time, could you restrain your husband so he doesn't nearly break my ribs?"

Sakura laughed out loud at that and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I couldn't resist. When Hinata came to me for the test this morning, I thought about keeping it a secret until you were ready to tell everyone, but it just slipped over breakfast this morning… besides, any excuse to see you get glomped by the green beasts of Konoha is worth it in my book."

Naruto narrowed his eyes but laughed nonetheless.

* * *

Now, when Shikamaru had told Naruto about the party, he came expecting it to be a rather big affair. After all, he had been to an Akimichi party before, and it was quite the shindig, and that was just for Naruto's ascension to chuunin more than five years ago.

This was different; a baby on the way was a much bigger deal, something Naruto knew quite well. And yet even the great Naruto Uzumaki, the number one hyperactive shinobi and self proclaimed avid party man wasn't expecting this. Something this grandiose, lively, and quite frankly crazy Naruto hadn't been expecting from the normally sane Chouji.

Everyone from the rookie eight, Team Gai, and all their teachers were just a few of the people there. Konohamaru and his team, now all chuunin themselves, had arrived as well to congratulate their "boss" and the good news, Konohamaru laughing as he asked, "So I get to name him right?"

Naruto laughed and said, "Sure, _of course_ you can."

Konohamaru laughed again, then said, "I'm serious, can I name him?"

Tenten and Neji were off to themselves by the side, happily chatting to themselves, Tenten casting excited glances over to Hinata and giggling madly, slightly pink in the face, as could be explained by the cup of sake in her hand. Even Neji, the soberest of the soberest, was a little buzzed tonight. Naruto noticed this and laughed as he thought to himself, "_Looks like Tenten pulled the stick out of his butt._"

Kiba and Chouji had decided to play a nice game of "Who can eat more ramen than the other within a span of ten minutes?" The funny thing was Udon was busy refereeing the match, with Ino and Moegi cheering on both men. Somehow, Chouji managed to procure a karaoke setup, and Jiraiya (admittedly the LAST person Naruto wanted to see here) was busy belting out off-key ramblings of some song, he was too "tipsy", as he put it, to be able to sing straight. It didn't help that Gai was cheering him on.

Kakashi was content to stand by the buffet, making friendly chat with Kurenai who held her toddler son close by as he stared wide eyed at all the food. Looking over to Naruto and Hinata, who were laughing jovially as Lee congratulated them once again, a slightly tipsy Sakura giggling madly as she clung to his arm, Kurenai chuckled to herself.

"It's kinda funny, Kakashi. Those two shinobi there were once our students. They were so small… and Naruto was still loud." Kakashi chuckled. "Some things don't change completely, that's for sure. But it never ceases to amaze me how he can always seem to find a way to surprise everyone. I'm just glad they aren't drinking tonight, other wise we could see some quite frankly unnerving stuff."

Kurenai laughed, "Naruto might be a goof, but he's not an idiot. Well, not anymore at least."

Nobody was surprised when Hokage Tsunade decided to invite herself to the festivities, Shizune gawking at the sight as she trailed in right behind her. After all, Naruto and Hinata were two of Konoha's most promising shinobi. It was good PR for Tsunade. Not to mention that she believed, deep down, that Naruto was going to be the Hokage after her. She saw that as reason enough to celebrate. And she did manage to drag Jiraiya, now much more than "tipsy", off the stage, much to Gai's disappointment.

Naruto and Hinata were enjoying themselves quite a bit, that is, until a rather flat voice behind them said, "Well, I guess it's true then."

Naruto turned to find himself face to face with Hiashi Hyuuga, a rather anxious looking Hanabi by his side. "Hinata, you really are having his child?" Hinata didn't stutter, she didn't back down, she looked her father straight in the eye with a bright smile and said, "I am."

And much to Naruto's shock and confusion, Hiashi smiled ever so slightly. Picking up a small glass of sake from the table nearby, he merely said, "To you." Before downing it and walking over to chat with the Hokage. Hanabi seemed to be fighting with herself. But after a slight moment of hesitation, she reached out and _hugged_ her sister. Hinata seemed quite lost at first, but soon smiled and turned her head to Naruto, who nodded and said, "You two go chat, I'll be fine."

Naruto looked around and for the first time, _knew_ that he had done what he had set out to do back when he was a kid. He had true friends, a wife he would die for, and a child on the way. Even if he didn't make Hokage, he didn't care.

He had love, and quite frankly, he was content with just that.

"Oi, Naruto!"

A very familiar chuunin with a large scar across his nose appeared from the crowd, smiling brightly.

"Iruka-sensei! It's been way too long!" They both hugged like a father would hug his son. "I got the good news from Gai a few hours ago. I'm proud of you Naruto."

"Aww shucks, it's nothing really…"

"Don't say that! Having a child is one of the biggest experiences you'll ever have in your entire life. You and Hinata need to enjoy this and make the most of it. And it is my personal opinion that you will make a great father." Naruto smiled warmly at that.

"Thank you, Iruka-sensei. Really, I mean it."

Naruto was called off elsewhere for more congratulations. Iruka smiled to himself and thought, "_Of course he's going to be a good father, I mean, look at his own father… Yondaime, I wish you could see him now… your little boy has grown into a fine man it seems. And something tells me you knew he would the whole time. Didn't you, Yondaime?_"

* * *

**A/N: I apologize if this chapter seems rushed or anything, I just already had so many ideas for the party and such I just had to write it down. But at least I'm keeping good on my promise to update quickly! Well, the celebrations are done, back to business. Now for what you've all been waiting for, the baby vote! Here's your options folks…**

**If you want a boy, the names available are Kirusei, Kaizen, Ryu, Roka, or Arashi.**

**If you want a girl, the names available are Hikari, Emiko, Kira, Yuki, or Rei.**

**And if you want twins, tell me what gender and which names.**

**I DO NOT GO ABOVE TWINS.**

**If you want your voice to be heard, then send me a message, or better yet, REVIEW. You've been great so far, keep it up!!!**


	15. Intermission: Let's try this again

**Hey there everyone, Cenedarprime here. First off, I would like to thank you all for reviewing my story and reading it so much, it makes me feel as if my work is really appreciated. Now, about this whole voting thing… apparently I wasn't clear in the instructions and I apologize for that.**

**Now, if you want twins for the kids, then feel free to post your vote for two names, whether it be two boys, two girls, or one of each. Please don't review telling me "make it twins!" and not suggest names or genders, it doesn't help me tally votes XD.**

**Now here's the more reoccurring issue I've noticed. People who did not want twins couldn't seem to make up their minds over which gender they wanted, and gave a vote for a name for both. Now, under most circumstances I wouldn't have a problem with this, but in this case, I do. I care about this story quite a lot, as I'm sure you all can tell by my continuing to add to it. I want a definite vote this time. This means MAKE A DECISION on ONE gender, and ONE name. Unless you're voting for twins. Then you can do two names. That's as high as I go.**

**So, here is the NEW ballot for the names available:**

**Boy:**

**Nato**

**Haru**

**Kirusei**

**Kaizen**

**Ryu**

**Girl:**

**Hitomi**

**Haruna**

**Hikari**

**Kira**

**Rei**

**Now, BEFORE ANYONE FLAMES ME FOR TAKING ARASHI OFF THE BOY'S NAME LIST, let me explain why I did it. I am not saying Arashi is a bad name, I like it quite a bit. And naming a child for their grandparent is an honorable thing to do. I'm not denying that.**

**However, when you look at everyone in the Naruto universe, everyone's name is different and unique. As much as Arashi would honor the memory of Yondaime, I believe it takes away from the individuality that the child will no doubt possess, remember, this is Naruto's kid after all. I was reluctant to include Arashi in the first place because I feel that naming Naruto's son by that name would seem cliché, I think it is.**

**Again, I'm sorry if anyone is upset by this, I do not mean to throw your ideas back in your faces. You all came up with wonderful ideas and I'm just applying as I think would most help my story. I hope you can all give a solid vote this time, as I do want your opinions reflected when the time comes for little (insert name here) to be born.**

**Thanks for listening, and peace.**

**Cenedarprime**

**PS: Flames will be ignored. Period. XD**


	16. Kyuubi's Secret

_Chapter 15: Time's Running Out: Kyuubi's Secret!_

One week.

Seven days.

One-hundred and sixty eight hours.

Naruto had that much time to prepare himself for the exam, and yet, he was finding it increasingly difficult to keep his focus on his training. It takes a lot to distract Naruto from something like training, seeing as he enjoyed it in his free time. Ever since he was a kid, people knew where to find him after class at the academy; namely out in the back fields, training till he was half dead and exhausted. Training was Naruto's thing.

But even as much as he loved training, he loved his wife and unborn child more.

But with this happiness also came many nerves. Of course he was always asking himself the typical "new dad" questions.

Would it be a boy or girl?

Would the child like him?

Would he be a good father?

But then some not-so-average "new father" questions entered his head…

What if Hinata is injured before the baby is born?

What if enemy ninja try to kill her to keep the child from being born?

What if something happens in the exams… namely when and if Orochimaru decided to make his presence known again?

And then, once again, the most terrifying thought entered his head…

"_What if Kyuubi somehow corrupts my child?_"

As Naruto continued his taijutsu training on the wood posts, Kyuubi snickered in his head.

**_"Corrupt? Come now, brat, you make my influence and gifts sound like a bad thing."_**

"They ARE a bad thing, Kyuubi. The last thing I need is my child going feral or ending up like me in early childhood… all because you _had _to have a say in his genetic makeup."

**_"Oh stop your whining. Okay, you weren't the most popular one as a child, but look at you now. One of the most powerful shinobi to walk to the planet, with a wife so lovely as to put the fairest goddesses to shame. Oh yeah, I've done terribly by you, snot."_**

Naruto growled and with a vicious punch, removed the wood post from the ground.

"For the last time, it wasn't you who Hinata fell in love with, she fell in love with _me_. She still loves _me_, not you. The fact that she accepts me for who I am _despite_ you only proves that." Naruto leapt over to the next post, hearing it crack and splinter slightly as his foot connected with it. He continued punching and kicking it with fervor and speed to contend with that of Rock Lee's as the fox continued to growl and snicker occasionally. But then the demon did something Naruto had never felt or heard before. All he did know is that it was _not _a good sign at all...

Kyuubi, the bloodthirsty, terrifying demon fox, went into a fit of hacking coughs.

Naruto froze where he was, not exactly sure what to make of the situation. On one hand, he enjoyed seeing his burden hacking up a lung in obvious discomfort, but on the other, if this was a sign of passing on, then Naruto wanted to prevent that. After all, if the Kyuubi croaked, so did he. He quickly looked into his own mind, as he usually would do to either suppress the demon or borrow his power. He could barely make out Kyuubi's face near the back of his seemingly endless cell, eyes weakly glowing behind the bars.

"Oi, fuzzball… what's going on with you?"

Kyuubi came forward, seemingly recovered from his fit. But Naruto did notice that his eyes were slightly less piercing, and seemed even more bloodshot than usual, which was saying something considering this was a thousands of years old demon. Kyuubi merely growled and tried to slash at Naruto as he put his hands on the bars.

Naruto didn't shy away. He didn't need to; the seal wouldn't allow the Kyuubi to harm him. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked into the black depths of Kyuubi's cell. His multitude of tails slithered around in the dark, glowing with a faint red light. Naruto counted them off, sensing something off. His face grew steadily paler as he counted, almost as if he knew what was coming...

"One, two…three, four, five… six, seven… eight…"

Naruto froze, his stomach dropping with a terrible ill feeling. Without thinking Naruto dashed between the bars of the cell, narrowly dodging Kyuubi's claws as the demon swung at his head. **_"GET OUT! YOU MUSN'T TRAVEL IN HERE OR..."_**

It was too late.

Even as Kyuubi pushed Naruto back out of his mind, the blonde shinobi stared with a pale face, his mouth just barely holding back a scream. He found the ninth tail… shriveled, limp, and bloody, as if it had all of its chakra ripped from it by some hideous beast. **_"OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT! LEAVE THIS PLACE, SNOT!" _**Naruto felt Kyuubi banish him from the prison, and with a great whooshing sensation found himself traveling back towards a familiar scene…

* * *

Hinata walked out onto the balcony, a hand unconsciously running gently along her stomach. She looked out to the sunset, a warm, happy feeling seeping through her body. She hadn't felt so at peace since… well, since she first could love Naruto freely. The fact that she was now carrying his child, _their child_, was more than she ever could've dreamed for. She often had to pinch herself, to remind herself once again that she wasn't having a very long, very elaborate dream.

She would find herself imagining a small child running through the house, laughing brightly as his or her blonde haired father grinned like an idiot, running after him or her, promising the same tickle torture that he had often used on her. The mere thought of that made her giggle, she couldn't help it.

She wouldn't have stopped if she hadn't heard the scream.

Her head whipped down to the field in back, where she found Naruto on the ground, rolling around, writhing wildly and screaming like he was in unbearable pain.

She literally felt the blood leave her face, and completely forgetting that she was pregnant, that she probably shouldn't be dealing with a demon container having a seizure in her own condition, she leapt down from the balcony, kunoichi instincts propelling her to Naruto faster than anyone could blink.

"N-Naruto-kun!? Wake up, what's wrong? Naruto-ku…. NARUTO!!!!"

Naruto's eyes snapped open and he bolted up into a sitting position, breathing heavily and sweating bullets. He looked around wildly until his eyes connected with Hinata's lavender orbs, now frightened and filled with concern. Hinata hugged him tightly, and Naruto felt his grip on reality begin to return. His arms finally gripped Hinata tightly, showing that he was alright. Hinata pulled back a bit, taking his face in her hands. "Naruto-kun, are you alright? I saw you on the ground, you were screaming, you looked like you… like you were…"

Naruto's eyes became soft and caring. "Don't worry, I'm fine now… Hinata, go back inside, I'll be there in a second…" Hinata looked apprehensive, and Naruto sighed, standing up. "See? I'm fine, I promise. Come on, let's go inside." Hinata reluctantly allowed her husband to guide her back inside, still concerned greatly. As soon as they were in the kitchen, Hinata stood in his path, refusing to let him go further.

"Naruto-kun, what happened out there? What's going on?"

Naruto looked at his wife for a moment, an odd look on his face. He sat Hinata down in a chair and swallowed the lump in his throat, his voice trembling slightly at first.

"Hinata… it… it's the fox. I think he… he's…"

As the last word left Naruto's mouth, Hinata felt her stomach freeze and her heart stop.

"…dying."

* * *

Inside Naruto's mind, the Kyuubi shivered and growled loudly in his cage. He felt a sharp sting as he watched another tail begin to die away, its glow fading as it shriveled up slowly, like a dying plant. It hurt more and more as it grew worse. He growled and yelped, cursing loudly as it finally fell to the floor, making a splash in the water, sending echoes through the halls and tunnels of Naruto's mind.

His yellow eyes shot up to his bars, and his pupils shrunk to the size of peas. The seal on the door was glowing in a bright yellow, a very familiar chakra emanating from it. He witnessed in horror as his own chakra seemed to finally leave his second dead tail, flying through the air until it merged with the seal.

The seal gave a loud pulse, and Kyuubi could feel his energy being absorbed into the mind and body of his host. A missing piece clicked in his head, and frightened and angry scowl crossing his large mouth. He turned his head to the ceiling, bellowing out in a petrifying shout…

"**_DAMN YOU YONDAIME!!!!"_**

* * *

**A/N: DUN-DUN-DUUUNNNNNN!!!! Aren't I just one evil son of a gun? So what is happening to our fuzzball fiend? Will this bode well for Naruto, or is he doomed as Kyuubi seems to be? And what would Yondaime have to do with this, eh?**

**You will all find out… just not now ::shot::.**

**But do not fear, all will be revealed in due time. With the jounin exam finals just a few days away, Naruto had better find out what's going on soon. What he _doesn't_ know, however, is that this could, and may very well mark a new stage of life for him…**

**FEAR MY CLIFFHANGERS! GET ON YOUR KNEES AND FEAR THEM, BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11111111!!!!!!!!!!1!**

**But anyway, more to come in the next chapter! Stay tuned!**

**Baby update: THE POLLS ARE CLOSED!!! Thanx to all who voted!**


	17. Interview With a Demon

_Chapter 16: Interview with a demon: Hinata's Wish!_

Hinata felt numb. She felt as if someone had dunked her in ice and slapped her across the face. Her heart seemed to stop with a crash.

"D-… dying!?"

Naruto winced, but nodded nonetheless. Hinata felt her breathing begin to quicken rapidly, far too rapidly to be good. Naruto could tell she was beginning to panic, and yet felt helpless to stop her.

"He…. He can't die! If he dies… if he _dies_… then won't you…"

Naruto nodded before she could muster up the courage to say the last word. She grew tremendously pale and started shivering slightly. This couldn't be happening, Naruto couldn't…. he just couldn't die!

A single tear escaped Hinata's eye, and before she knew it, she was sobbing like a lost child. Naruto took her into his arms and she cried out every tear she could've possibly had onto his chest. Hinata sniffled softly after about fifteen minutes of crying loudly, her hands clutching Naruto's torn shirt. Here eyes caught the edge of the seal on Naruto's stomach, and her grip suddenly tightened. Naruto looked down to find Hinata tearing away what remained of his shirt, placing her hands on the seal.

Had her hands not begun to glow blue with chakra, he would've asked what she was doing. Instead, he barely managed to shout, "Hinata-chan, wait, DON'T…" but it was too late. Hinata went limp in his arms, and he could feel another voice enter his mind… a soft, gentle female one…

* * *

_Hinata groped along the walls of the chamber, now completely dark, save for a faint orange glow coming from around the corner. She slowly but surely guided herself through the dark stumbling on a pipe along the way. She activated her Byakugan, cursing herself for not doing so earlier._

_She had been in Naruto's mind before. She remembered the dank, chilling air in the Kyuubi's jail. But things seemed to have gotten ten times colder and darker, she thought to herself._

_She turned the corner and instantly shut off her Byakugan, keeping the Kyuubi's still enormous chakra reserve from blinding her. As she approached the cage, the bars rattled as claws scraped against them, and a low, threatening growl filled the room, echoing off the stone walls._

"_**What are YOU doing here?"**_

_Hinata, after questioning her sanity in going inside Naruto's head several times, called out meekly. "Naruto says that you are… dying." Kyuubi chuckled, followed by a few hacking coughs._

_**"Did he now? I wonder what gave him THAT idea… so why are you here?"**_

_Hinata gulped down her fear again, "I… I came to see the truth. Are you dying or aren't you?" Kyuubi chuckled again, his laughter becoming quieter and more raspy._

_**"And why would you care? I figured you and the rest of Konoha would be glad to get rid of the terrifying Kyuubi no yoko, the nine tailed fox. Why would you…"**_

_Hinata cut him off quickly, her voice rising in volume. "I am here simply because if you die than Naruto is going to die as well!" Kyuubi was silent for a moment._

_**"You are wasting your time, girl. If you intend to try and heal me to help your beloved than you are out of your senses."**_

_Hinata's eyes narrowed, her expression becoming more angry than upset. "I am not so unskilled as to not be able to heal wounds and illnesses, fox." Kyuubi growled loudly, then roared at Hinata._

_**"DOES THIS LOOK LIKE IT CAN BE HEALED TO YOU!?"**_

_Kyuubi howled in pain as he grabbed his two dead tails, flinging them out between the bars. Hinata leapt back in time to keep from being crushed by them, but that didn't make what she saw any easier to stomach. The tails were quite dead indeed. They were shriveled like raisins, bleeding from several places, and had taken a disgusting pale green hue amidst the yellow and blood stained fur._

_**"This is not a wound that can be healed, snot. It can't be healed because it hasn't stopped growing yet. And it will CONTINUE to grow until I am nothing but a memory locked away inside this blonde idiot's skull…"**_

_Hinata shook her head, feeling new tears threatening to fall, "NO! I won't let you, I won't let you take Naruto away from me!"_

_Kyuubi's eyes flashed into vision, along with most of his gigantic head. **"What are you…" **Hinata would not be silenced though, not even by the thousand year old demon._

_"Naruto is everything to me, don't you understand!? He helped me become the woman and the ninja I am today! I'm his wife for a reason, I am the mother of his CHILD for a reason! I can't just let him roll over and die just because you finally reached your limit!"_

_**"Girl, you don't understand…"**_

_"WHAT!? WHAT DON'T I UNDERSTAND? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE AND NARUTO…"_

_**"NARUTO IS NOT GOING TO DIE, YOU STUPID LITTLE FLESHBAG!"**_

_Hinata froze in place as Kyuubi continued._

_**"IF THAT BLONDE MORON WAS GOING TO DIE AS WELL THEN I WOULD AT LEAST BE TAKING THIS IN STRIDE RIGHT NOW! BUT NO, MY POWER IS BEING DRAINED AWAY, MY VERY LIFE FORCE TAKEN FROM ME, AND FOR WHAT!? SO THE FOURTH HOKAGE COULD FINISH WHAT HE STARTED ALL THOSE YEARS AGO WHEN HE FOUGHT ME!"**_

_Hinata stammered, "But that still doesn't explain how…" Kyuubi roared again and pointed to the seal on the cage._

_**"It doesn't!? Oh, I think it does. Think about it, why do you think I was sealed inside Naruto in the first place?"**_

_That's when things began to click inside her head. "To keep you from hurting anyone… including Naruto…"_

_**"And to one day be able to provide this brat with the power he needs to protect his pathetic little village; that I, ironically enough, would like nothing more than to see incinerated for what they've done to me."**_

_He tapped on the seal again. **"Why do you think this is here? If it was just a lock to keep me in, I would've broken it and Naruto would've been dead years ago. But no! Yondaime had to seal me in with a jutsu only HE knew about!"**_

_Hinata looked up with wide eyes. "So then… Naruto isn't dying as well… he's…"_

_**"Absorbing my chakra, melding with it until it becomes a natural part of his own body."**_

_Hinata's heart stopped again, but this time for a much different reason. She suddenly felt a little warmer inside. Naruto was going to be alright!_

_**"Girl… it's happening again… get out…"**_

_Hinata stood firm, and the Kyuubi made to bark at her again, but his pain stopped him from doing so. One of his tails slithered out between the bars, and Hinata watched in shock as the orange chakra and life was drained from it with a sickening gust, flying into the seal on the cage, before it was released into the walls and ceiling, even the very air of the prison in Naruto's mind._

_Hinata felt the energy pulse past her, until it eventually faded, leaving the room even colder than it was before. Kyuubi coughed out a howl and clawed at his bars in pain. Hinata approached the newly dead tail, and was a foot away from touching it before the beast howled again._

_**"DON'T TOUCH IT, YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL!"**_

_Kyuubi suddenly stopped talking, as he saw Hinata's Byakugan glaring at him from the dark. Her voice was firm, but still gentle as she spoke to him. "I sense much anger and distress in you, demon. But I also see a sense of honor in you. I know you will not harm me because of that."_

_Hinata's hand began to glow a pale blue, and she gently touched the newly dead tail. It flashed white for a second, and then disappeared in a swirl of dust. Kyuubi snarled and howled in pain. Hinata walked to another dead tail and did the same thing, then over to the third. Kyuubi howled with each tail that disappeared. But then… he suddenly felt his pain decrease._

_"By removing your dead tails, I can at least make your final days a little more peaceful." Kyuubi regarded her with utmost suspicion, with a slightly puzzled frown._

_**"Why are you doing this? I thought you hated me a moment ago…"**_

_Hinata scoffed. "I do hate you, don't worry about that. But though I may not like you, I do owe you my gratitude for protecting Naruto all these years. Without a least a little of your strength he might not have lived up till now. And for that, we both will honor your passing once it occurs."_

_Kyuubi didn't speak for a while. He indeed felt much less pain now than he did before, his lungs and heart seemed to be under less pressure. He felt lower than ever before, not only was he going to die, but it seemed like he wouldn't even have all his tails intact when he did, thanks to the seal and Hinata's insistence on easing his pain._

_**"I've destroyed villages, eaten things ten times your size alive and very nearly destroyed your own village. I've made your beloved's life hell as a child and have hung over your village's elders like a plague ready to rise at some unknown signal. By all counts, you have no reason to be helping me."**_

_Hinata only sighed and chuckled slightly._

_"Well, you know us humans, logic is never as easy to use for us as it is for you." Kyuubi narrowed his eyes at her attempt at humor. Still, the shadow of a smirk crossed his furry face._

_**"I hate to admit it, but maybe the snot is smarter than I gave him credit for… he chose you after all, and that in itself seems to speak volumes on his judgement…"**_

_Kyuubi cast out his giant paw, a single claw pointing behind Hinata._

_**"Get out…"**_

* * *

**A/N: Well that was something to write. It would appear Naruto is going to be alright. But how is Kyuubi's chakra going to affect him in the long run? Will it change anything about him before the finals arrive, or will Kyuubi hold out through the last matches?**

**We're in the final quarter folks. Things are coming to a head now.**

**Next time, "The Finals Begin: Chouji's New Opponent!"**


End file.
